A New Fearful Behavior from our Tuff Guy

I've been meaning to post this for some time and just haven't had the chance. I'm looking for suggestions and ideas around a new behavior Zuko has been showing.

Obligatory cute photo of Zuko

I don't know what triggered what, so here's the full chain of events:

• Zuko has always been fine with other dogs in his house. Usually we have the first meeting be outside and even if there is an initial growl, things are fine after. He doesn't mind other dogs playing with his toys, sniffing his food bowl, drinking his water - he's a very polite host in general. 
• On a Friday in October he had his teeth cleaned. This involves being "put under" but the vet reported no issues. He was fine that night but only eating soft food.
• The next day he seemed a bit lazy but fine, so our friend came over with his dog "L". Zuko and L had never met and she is a rescue dog with issues of guarding her human. We could not do the intro in the backyard because it was dark and pouring down rain. There was some serious growling and snarling when L came in the door (she was still on leash) and then Zuko spent the rest of the visit trembling behind my legs and L's human's legs. Final note: L peed in the kitchen before she left. 
• A few days later we met a boston terrier at a restaurant we have visited with Zuko many, many times. It has an enclosed patio and we sat in the same spot we always sit. Zuko has meet "P" before and had no issues. This time he freaked out. Snarling at first encounter then he was hiding and trembling behind my legs and trying to escape out the nearby door. Finally I had to put him in the car where he went to sleep.
• About a week later we went to Mendocino with friends and stayed in a rental home. Their dog "T" is also familiar to Zuko - they've met several times in both her house and ours. This rental home was new to both dogs. Zuko started the same behavior - when T would come up to him he would dip his head, look away and move to another area. Part of the issue was T would not leave him be - she was in his face always. When we would put him in the bedroom and shut the door, he would calm down and be fine. This is also the weekend he ran away - details are here. 
• Another week went by and our friend came over with her boston terrier puppy "W" who Zuko also knows -- and he knows this friend very well. She has watched Zuko for us in the past when we traveled. Same behavior - Zuko was trembling and was scratching at his hudad to do something (we don't know what). Except this time W was not even near Zuko. He was off exploring the toy box and left Zuko 100% alone. 

So what do we know for sure? Enclosed spaces are an issue except his daycare - they report no problems there so it may be enclosed spaces with either his humom or hudad. Dog parks seem fine and he was fine on the beach with other dogs until he lost his off-leash privileges (we have not been to the beach since). One other note: all of the other dogs involved in the above incidents are very high energy. 

We have puzzled over this - what was the trigger to cause it to start (if any) and what is the "in the moment" trigger? Is it us? Is it the other dog? How do we get past this? We have a trainer lined up who works at Zuko's daycare but I wanted to reach out to the Shiba community and see if anyone has had a similar experience. Our fear is we try this, try that, try something else and just confuse Zuko even more, so while we know about Thundershirts and the Comfort herbal things, we have not tried them. Any insight is appreciated!

-- Posted by Prince Zuko's Puzzled Humom

Shibasquatch No More: Trust Revoked

Last weekend we headed up to Mendocino County with some friends to a dog-friendly vacation rental on the coast. This should have been the perfect weekend.

Wild Shiba on the rugged coast

The night we drove in it was horrid weather - rain, fog, long winding roads in the dark. Bleh. We finally get to the house and Zuko immediately goes into "weird" mode - he decided he was terrified of the dog he's known all summer. Granted, she was very, very much in his face and would not leave him alone, but normally he'd just snarl at a dog being that rude. This time he decided to be terrified. (More on this new behavior in another post coming soon - looking for advice!).

The next day the weather cleared and we headed to a nice, secluded beach. Since Zuko had been so stressed I decided to let him off leash so he could burn off some energy. He's a confirmed Shibasquatch, so while I was a bit nervous because he was off his game, I knew there was only one way off the beach. It would be fine, right?

And there he goes....

I snapped the above picture just as Zuko made the turn and headed for the path...off the beach. My hubby was up the path before I could even react and had Zuko stopped just above the beach - but not caught. Zuko bolted again and ran up to the road - at which point, any attempt to remain calm on our part ended. 

Zuko "played" in the road, causing us to put ourselves in the middle of the country highway to stop traffic. At one point, I was sure he was gone for good. All the usual tactics failed us - sit, wait, here, touch, throwing treats at him, running away from him ----- nothing worked. At this point we were frantic and we all know that heightened "energy" from humans does not help, but when your little dog is running TOWARD a car like a brainless idiot, calm and zen go right the fuck out the door. 

Finally, we came to another dirt road that met the highway and I shouted at my hubby to try running away (again) and Zuko FINALLY followed him. Relieved he was at least off the highway, we chased the little monster up the hill and into a farmer's courtyard area. Zuko's hudad decided to just sit down in the dirt and see if that calmed Zuko down a bit. And finally, finally, the little jerk came back to me for a treat, did a sit and I tackled him with more force than was probably necessary. 

The Runaway was captured. And we both wanted to hug him and shake him senseless at the same time. I guess that makes us bad people but the sheer terror of nearly losing our little dog messed up our brains too.

"Iz all lies. I was sitting here the whole time being a good dog."

So what happened to make our trusty dog run off? We have some theories about stress and the other dog driving him insane, but I'll save that for another post. Zuko has no idea what he has done, but his status as a Shibasquatch is fully revoked. 

-- Posted by Zuko's mom and the leash that will be attached to him the rest of his life

Off-leash Rant: Continued

*sigh*

And again today...we were in a park, I hear someone yelling "Tilly! Get down from there. Tilly! Get over here!". And so on. I'm thinking someone has a very out of control kid. Then I see the first dog up above us on the trail - a big one. (Of course). Then I see another one and a man. I yell up "My dog isn't friendly on-leash". The guy gives me a horrible look and starts to leash up one of the dogs and I hear him say to someone "it's HER dog". Meaning me and Zuko.

By this point the first dog has already gotten very close to us but the path sort of split so you could go around a big rocky section on either side. So we take the other path and as we climb I see a woman...and another dog. Yup. These folks had three big dogs that were off leash and under no voice control whatsoever.  After we passed the couple and got to the trail above them, I hear them start up again "Tilly! Max!" and so on. They had unleashed the two dogs as soon as I passed. The first dog never got leashed, just kept going.

So. These people spent their whole hike yelling at their dogs (to no result) and disturbing the peace of the park and most assuredly not cleaning up any messes their dogs made. This clearly frustrated them, if their body language and facial expressions were any reflection of how their morning had went. And I had to position MY dog as the Bad Dog just to get them to do the right thing.

I. Am. So. Pissed.

-- Posted by Prince Zuko's annoyed mom who promises the next post will be happier with cute pictures of Zuko!

It's Time for Another Rant: Off-leash Dogs

::::Begin Rant:::::

I've blogged a fair bit about Zuko's on-leash growly behavior with some dogs and at Shibapalooza I started to get to the bottom of it (face-sniffing and rudeness). In general on our walks, things have been fine this summer.

Gratuitous cute photo of Zuko

However...

While Zuko is a confirmed Shibasquatch at a lake near our house and at the beach, he is on leash all other times. Recently on a walk back up from the lake, two very large dogs come bounding down the trail. These dogs were big - as in at least 70 pounds each. Zuko was on leash and there were no other humans in sight nor could I hear any walking / talking on the path up ahead.

Of course the dogs run up to Zuko. OF COURSE. I immediately get between him and the dogs, turning my back to them and moving to keep them away from Zuko (and watching Zuko's reaction). The dogs would not leave off and I had to keep this going for a couple of minutes before they lost interest and took off for the last leg of the path to the lake. Please note: still no other humans in sight / sound.

We walk on. A ways up the path I see two guys with leashes draped around the necks. I asked them if they had lost two big black dogs because they were down at the lake. The guys looked at me like I was speaking gibberish, grunted something and continued their conversation and their nice morning stroll to the lake. At the pace they were proceeding, they would arrive at the lake about 7-10 minutes after their dogs.

A lot can happen in ten minutes. I was furious, but I was also clear-headed enough to know that if I confronted them, it would make no difference.

The other recent incident was with a golden retriever. After big adventures on the beach, Zuko and I were coming to the top of the sand stairs. An off-leash golden was standing above us on the stairs in the "I challenge you" stance (as I call it, here it is called the "dominant" posture): tail slightly up, making eye-contact, stiff-legged posture. We had to pass him to get to the parking lot and of course - face sniffing happened. I tried to relax and ease Zuko away but I wasn't fast enough and massive snarling started on both sides and the golden began lunging and barking. I got between them (the owner is meanwhile calling his dog from down the stairs - no effect at all) and I even felt teeth on the back MY leg during all of this. Luckily I was in jeans and it wasn't even enough to leave a mark or bruise -- but the owner is damn lucky there wasn't more to it than that.

Again I stayed between the two and herded Zuko away from the situation. After calling the dog's name (Rusty) about 15 times, the owner got the dog's attention and Rusty took off.

Zuko's Shiba friend Sinjin has had recent issues with random dogs attacking him and drawing blood. I don't really understanding humans NEEDING to allow their dogs off-leash at all times, but if you NEED to allow your dog to run around to fulfill some inner need of your own for freedom, then do it responsively. Make sure your dog responds to your commands. Otherwise, you are a lawsuit waiting to happen. I happen to know a VERY good lawyer - she's a Twiba mom too. :-)

::::End of Rant::::

-- Posted by Zuko's mom

Shibapalooza: The return of Snarly McGrowly

I've blogged extensively about Zuko and his challenges on-leash with other dogs. It is hit or miss - sometimes he's fine, sometimes he's not. A few clear problem areas are dogs who run up to him, stare him down or obsessively face-sniff him.

"Who me? I'm a good dog!"

Now - let's define how Shibas act based on what I observed at Shibapalooza:

• They are nearly all face-sniffers (considered rude doggie behavior). 
• Many of them like to obsess on things, like staring at another dog.
• A Shiba may do these things, but typically will not tolerate another dog doing it to them. Especially another Shiba. 

So guess what happened at Shibapalooza? Zuko snarled at a few dogs while on leash. Shocking! But then, there was a lot of snarling, growling, barking and snapping going on. ;-)

However, there was a very sweet cream Shiba named Katsu who completely ignored Zuko. Katsu didn't even look at him - and Zuko never snarled at him once. It was interesting to watch the body language. Katsu had great manners and was not rude at all, which meant Zuko had nothing to get all macho about. 

Very polite Shiba - Katsu

With all of this, you would think bringing out food would just escalate the issues and cause a massive melee of Shiba furballs fighting. I was shocked to see that THIS is actually what happens:

Good dogs all around

For a brief moment in time they were all just being good dogs. 

This fits with what the trainers at Zuko's daycare were suggesting and what I've been working on with him: the "look" command to draw his attention from whatever he's obsessing on and move his focus back to me. Also, I continue to reward good behavior like proper butt-sniffing and moving him away from other dogs before it gets "growly". 

The event was a wonderful time - it was amazing to meet the other hudads and humoms of Shibas and to see so many adorable dogs ... but it was also exhausting for me and Zuko. Towards the end of the picnic he went after Rinji for like the 400th time and my patience finally cracked and he got the "just knock it off already" tone from me. 

Off-leash Zuko did very well - which also wasn't a surprise. Off-leash he is free to move about and display the body language he wants and to play. But, this weekend did bring a question to my mind: how much of his on-leash issue is related to him guarding his humans? I wonder...

-- Prince Zuko's mom

 

Zuko and Other Dogs: On-leash update

A year ago, I was writing about our troubles with Zuko being growly on-leash. We went to some classes and learned a things like how to properly meet and greet other dogs and we talked with the folks who spend time with him at daycare. We made some progress.

Once we moved, we saw even more progress.

"Who me? I iz a good dog!"

Over the past few months, the incidents of him lunging and growling at other dogs have been very rare and ALWAYS start with the other dog lunging and snarling first. As most Shiba owners know, they think they are a big dog and won't back down from a rude or aggressive dog. So I've been watching the body language of other dogs much more closely and I have become less concerned about Zuko's. Out in the parks, it still tends to be two types of dogs that cause issues: small yappy dogs who lunge and snarl at everyone and everything, and the big dogs who just like a challenge.

The small yappy dogs actually seem to humor Zuko a bit. He's almost tolerant - to a point. If they get too close he'll snarl back. The big dogs are more interesting - they see Zuko and they will stop, stare and focus on him. Clear warning signals that I now know to look for.

Any time I spot a potential problem, I immediately go for the treat bag and start doing "look" with Zuko. I keep him to my left and the other dog to HIS left - meaning if he's looking at me, he can't see the other dog. I use to always shorten the flexi-leash as I did this but I've noticed an odd thing in recent weeks - Zuko will sometimes naturally fall into a heel position when a big dog shows up ahead of us on the trail. I can't be sure, but it seems like he has started to associate "big aggressive dog up ahead" with "Zuko gets yummy treats, hang out next to mom". Now I keep the leash slack but I have the trigger finger ready in case the other dog lunges (see above: Shibas don't back down from a fight).

We had one pretty nasty case recently and frankly - it was 100% the other dog. We were out front with Zuko and he was tied up on a long leash to avoid he disappearing after a cat or a squirrel. He was in his driveway, being chill when another dog who was off-leash came BOUNDING up to Zuko before we could get the owners to call the dog off. Zuko was impressive - lots of big body language and fierce  snarls and huge Shiba teeth flashing. My husband and I both barely reacted - we could see that Zuko was putting on one hell of a show, but he wasn't making contact with the teeth. The other dog got the hell out of there as fast as possible and the owners gave us some pretty nasty looks. In our opinion, they were at fault. They let their off-leash dog charge up to another dog on his own territory. Idiots.

This weekend we head to Shibapalooza. At the recent very rainy, very cold NorCal Shiba picnic, we had to scurry under some cover. I didn't hesitate to bring Zuko in to the shelter and he (of course) snarled at Sinjin. Once. Then they all just stood there wet and miserable as only Shibas can look when they aren't getting their way.

So, I'm feeling pretty good about Shibapalooza and about Zuko behaving like a Prince and not a monster!

-- Zuko's optimistic mom

Doggie visitors

One of my favorite things about Zuko is he really is a pretty chill Shiba in some aspects. While he can be reactive on leash and has no tolerance for rude dogs, he doesn't get jealous of toys, he isn't food possessive, nor does he get jealous of his humans petting other dogs.

We are starving! Feed us already!

And this weekend we discovered he doesn't seem to care if polite dogs come into his home. We had a cookout and invited Tia to the house. Zuko and Tia have met up before, but there was a bit of tension that day because he first met her on leash. Later, in Tia's house, we found that Zuko is respectful of another dog's home and he even helped Tia guard the house when weird people went by.

So, he did know Tia, but he didn't even react when she came into the house. We brought her in through the backyard and then she came into the kitchen. Sniffing happened, then they became beggin' buddies immediately. Zuko was far more interested in the food the humans had then the fact that Tia was systematically dragging all of his toys out of his toy box and trying to get him to chase her. He didn't care that she was getting attention from all the humans (including his) and that she was getting treats. He was getting lots of attention himself and plenty of treats so it was all good.

He did steal a hotdog piece meant for Tia though - she missed it, it hit the ground, and Zuko was faster than her. ;-) Tia didn't mind.

-- Posted by Zuko's proud mommy

About Dog Parks - Again

Since I blogged about our challenges at our local dogpark, we since have had several successful visits to dogparks - both the local one and another up in San Francisco. Zuko met his half sisfur, Suki, in SF and had a good time. We've gone to the local park and had no issues several times.

And then today....

Obligatory Cute Photo of Zuko

Zuko and I headed over just before 5pm. I usually prefer not to go when it might be busy, but today it just was one of those things. As it turned out, the park wasn't really busy. However, there was one woman there who I've seen there once before. All her dogs seem lethargic and very ill. Last time I saw her, one dog kept vomiting and eating it's vomit (and then vomiting again) and she couldn't be bothered to get off the park bench and do something about it.

So today, everything was going well - lots of proper sniffing and good things. Then I noticed one of her dogs insisting on face-sniffing Zuko for very long periods of time. I was surprised how well he tolerated it, but I could see the lip start to curl. So I distracted Zuko with a ball (which he then ignored). Then out of the blue the same dog starts circling Zuko and barking at him. Zuko stood still and growled. The other dog kept barking and circling. Zuko started to snarl, but still didn't move. I stepped in and tried to get rid of the other dog and she just kept at it. I finally said "Who's dog is this???" and another lady (not the owner) comes and gets the dog.

Seriously?

As soon as the other dog left off, Zuko was fine. Raced off to play and pee on things. Meanwhile, the same woman has another dog who now is attacking another dog right by the bench. What does this woman do? Nothing. The other owner took her sheep dog and left.

Zuko was across the park and he and I stayed over there playing ball....and then comes the rude barky dog again, this time dragging a leash. She comes for Zuko and he again responds by being still and sending some serious messages to not f*ck with him. I pick up the leash and drag the barky dog back to the owner.

Again - seriously?

Out of sheer stubbornness, I stuck it out a bit longer at the park. Zuko was fine, the other dog was being held on leash and the second dog that attacked the sheep dog was too lazy to get far from the park bench. Finally, Zuko was tired and we leashed up and headed out. We had to pass the barky dog to get to the gate and she lunged for Zuko and started barking. Sigh.

My point of all this: all it takes is one bad owner. This woman had two dogs who irritated/aggravated/attacked two different dogs within the space of 30 minutes. There is clearly an issue here and this woman just didn't give a sh*t about it one bit.

Note to self: If I see her there, we are not going in the park. Period.

- Posted by Zuko's mom

On-leash growly dog: Update

In the past, I was blogging about Zuko being snarly on-leash in some situations. We went to training classes, talked to the trainers at his daycare and really started working on keeping his focus on us when on walks.

"Leaping tall fences in a single bound"

When we moved out to the suburbs, things got easier overall. Zuko has his own yard now and while there are still a ton of dogs in the neighborhood, there are no sidewalks. This means people just walk along the street and you have plenty of room to avoid another dog if needed. I've also noticed *most* people seem more aware of their dogs and are more considerate than what we experienced in the city.

Finally I've be able to notice a pattern: Zuko is fine with smaller dogs as long as they are not reactive.  He also really, really likes white fluffy dogs. I have no idea what this is about, but he adores them. Bigger dogs ... this is where the issues sometimes start on leash. If a big dog runs up to him - he snarls. If a big dog sees him and is staring at him as they approach each other - he snarls. If the other dog on leash is a Shiba - he snarls.

That seems to be his pattern. Big dogs showing dominate body language and / or dogs that are already lunging and barking at him before they get within 20 feet of him. Funny enough, there are numerous barking, snarling chihuahuas around the Bay Area and Zuko tends to ignore them and not react, even when they are acting as if they want to rip his throat out. It's mainly the bigger dogs he's watching out for.

So what does this tell me? Zuko is very sure of himself and will stand up to dominate body expressions from other dogs. Which almost explains the reactions to Shibas on leash -- most Shibas have that super confident look all the time.

Off leash, Zuko is different. He only gets grouchy when he's tired and the other dog won't back off. I've seen him totally pwn-ed by a dog at the dog park and he got back up, shook it off and chased the dog for more playing.

I wish I could fully capture and understand the body language that is going on when dogs are on leash that causes the dominate body postures and / or reactions in dogs. I feel like I've gotten a glimmer of it, but so much of it is subtle and we humans probably just can't even see it.

-- Posted by Zuko's mom

Doggie Weekend and Dog-park Success!

Thank you everyone who commented on my post about dog-parks. We journeyed out this weekend on some crazy adventures: one of which was to meet Zuko's half-sister Suki at a dog-park.

Zuko and Suki - brofur and sisfur

At the dog-park, Zuko was super chill with everyone. He sniffed and allowed himself to be sniffed and generally nothing happened. In fact, we and Suki's parents were all like "you guys are SO BORING!" Here is the irony: Zuko sniffed every dog in the park EXCEPT Suki for about the first half hour. Then, when there were hardly any other dogs left, they finally started sniffing each other. Maybe it is a family thing?

It was a warm day in San Francisco and Zuko was tired from the day before, so they really didn't play much together, but by the end they were Shiba-strutting together on leash and Suki tried to get Zuko to play a bit before she crashed out. (See the video).

However:

Zuko and Suki ran into each other before we got to the dog park and in typical fashion, there was on-leash growling. Zuko has never met a Shiba on-leash without there being snarling and growling (usually on both sides) but as soon as the leashes are off ... the issues are gone. Zuko's dad took him to work one day where he met another Shiba and they both growled at each other. Leashes off -- "oh! Let's play now! Yeah!"

Go figure.

Day one of the weekend was a meet-up with a rescue dog named Tia. She is mostly Taiwanese mountain dog and much bigger (and much more energetic) than Zuko. Unfortunately, we tried to let them meet up off-leash but I didn't get Zuko's leash off fast enough and Tia ran up to him -- and he told her to "back the f*ck off". Tia has good doggie manners and she did back off and gave him his space. When we got them both to Tia's house, things were fine. Zuko pretty much ignored Tia until a weird person went by the front of the house - then they BOTH barked and ran to the gate to defend the house. I mean, how adorable is that? After that they seemed to relax more with each other and when the cheese came out they were begging buddies.

A bit later there was some more snarling, but mainly because Tia wanted to play and Zuko didn't. Again, it was a "back the f*ck off" snarl, not a "I'm going to kill you" snarl and we all knew it. I just find it so ironic that Zuko is the one telling other dogs off now. When he was a pup he was the rambunctious one who needed to be moved from one play group to the other at daycare because he wore out all the dogs!

So what did we learn?

• Not all dog-parks are evil. 
• Shiba on-leash + Shiba on-leash = Snarling.
• Shibas off-leash = ignoring each other mostly. Unless it is cool weather, then we might get some playtime. 
• Being rushed by a bigger dog when he is on-leash is a trigger for Zuko to get snarly. 

That last one I've been noticing for some time and will post another entry on the on-leash habits I've been observing over the past few months. 

-- Posted by Zuko's Play-date Organizer

About Dog Parks

When we moved out to the 'burbs, I was pretty happy to have a dog park nearby. It was big and open with a solid fence and a sand surface instead of mud. Zuko seemed to be pretty happy with it too.

Then one Sunday we went by the park and all hell broke loose. Hubby and I walked in with Zuko and he and another dog did some sniffing then Zuko got down to business: peeing all over the fence. Another dog was across the park with his owners and suddenly came bounding over. And there was a fight between him and Zuko. It happened very fast, I didn't see who started what. What I did see was Zuko biting at the haunches of this other dog and then when he could, he broke away and went off towards the fence. The other owners were still across the park, so I went after Zuko, putting my hand down to block the other dog --- who was of course chasing after Zuko. 

What does this leave me to believe? Talking to the folks at Zuko's daycare, they have said time and again that Zuko is never aggressive. He will "tell off" another dog if that dog is being rude or too rough or if Zuko has just had enough playing. Add to this that Zuko broke off and ran away as soon as he could and the other dog followed him. I don't want to be the crazy dog lady who thinks her dog is never in the wrong, but I don't think this fight was started by him. 

Since then, I've been afraid to go back. The Shiba bloggers have posted photos and stories of Shibas who have been severely injured at dog parks and now I'm paranoid. 

So my question to all you dog owners at there: are dog parks worth the risk of your dog being seriously injured? If so, how do you minimize the risk? I'm really struggling with this one!

-- Zuko's Helicopter Mom

Run Zuko! Run!

Over the past few months, we have gotten braver with letting Zuko off leash. Originally we only let him off leash in enclosed dog parks and Ft. Funston beach. Ft. Funston may as well be enclosed, the cliffs and the water effectively block two escape routes.

Then we tried the northern area of Ocean Beach, not far from the Cliff House. The waterline is fairly far from the seawall and parking lot, so it seemed safe enough. And it has been, other than that one incident with the birds.**

Usually we only let Zuko off leash when both of us are there. The logic behind this is between the two of us, we should be able to corner and / or catch him eventually. Then one day hubby was sick and I took Zuko to the beach and let him off leash ... and he was so boring it wasn't even funny. I had cheese and he practically stuck to me like a burr. Now hubby has started to let him off leash also when they go to the beach without me. 

Overall, Zuko continues to be good. On a recent trip, hubby said Zuko got a bit amped up because there were so many dogs around and would come back to him for a cheese treat but dodge away from him quickly. Finally, he waited for Zuko to stop and sniff another dog and snagged him. :-)

I'm proud of my little Shibasquatch!

** The bird incident: I thought it would be fun to let Zuko chase birds without having to full-stop at the end of a leash. So we let him off leash near a flock of seagulls on Ocean Beach. The problem is this: birds fly. Away. Next thing I knew Zuko was zooming off into the distance and I was realizing my brilliant idea was not very well thought-out.  However, when hubby called him back, little dude made a u-turn and came running back. Color me impressed by Zuko's recall and the power of my husband's voice to carry long distances!

-- Posted by Zuko's mom 

Leash Monster: Training update!

Lots of changes in our world recently and I'm way behind on blog posts! So without further ado, an update on Zuko's on-leash snarling.

I mentioned before I wasn't sure we were getting the most we could out of the group classes. Zuko's "issues" are pretty specific and random. Or so they seem.

Then I got the brilliant idea to talk to the folks at his daycare. They run a huge gig there, lots of dogs, all cage-free. They are separated into size and activity groups for indoor romping and go outside in their groups. Some days they have upwards of 50 dogs! And with all that chaos, they still get stellar reviews on Yelp - so they must be doing something right.

One of the guys there, Scott, trains service dogs and is always there. He knows Zuko well, and I asked him one day if Zuko is snarly with other dogs. He said he isn't, unless the other dog won't back off and listen when Zuko says he's had enough rough playing. He said when they see that, they will either move the other dog into a high activity group or put Zuko in a lower activity group. He was also very clear that while Zuko snarls, he has never seen him try to bite a dog and it is his opinion it is not in Zuko's nature to actually bite and be aggressive. The snarling is him communicating the way dogs communicate.

We started talking about on-leash issues and Scott told me what they do to get the dogs' attention in playgroups. Zuko has always been good with his name, so they do use that and reward him with treats for focusing on them. Also, they use "look". In obedience, we learned "watch" - with a point to your eyes as the hand signal. I was standing there with treats and Zuko was fixated on me - then Scott said "look" and Zuko's head whipped around to look at him.

Interesting, right? Such a little thing, but to have consistency in the command used makes a difference. Zuko spends anywhere from 5-8 hours, 2-3 times a week at doggie daycare. They are working with him all the time and if I am using a command they are not using, guess who is losing? (Me).

So now on our walks, I take cheese or the Natural Balance sausage-roll treats and whenever he sees another dog, I do a "look" and he responds. He will cheerfully walk right past another dog, looking at me for treats. In class, the idea was to use "leave it" to create this behavior. Zuko knows "leave it" when it comes to icky stuff on the ground and other objects, but he was just not getting it with dogs. By using "look" I'm leveraging a command that turns his focus away from the dogs and one that he already knows is always rewarded with some good stuff.

We've had zero snarling incidents for about a week now. That isn't to say he hasn't TRIED to snarl. I have found one certain pattern: puppies. Young puppies, under probably 6 months or so, set him off. I am not 100% sure if he just gets all excited and is lunging at them to play or he's ready to put them in their puppy-place as an adult dog. Considering how violent-looking Shiba-play is, it probably doesn't matter which one it is - both are scary to a little puppy! Usually the pups give a yelp and back off. This week I've been able to catch him before he gets into full lunge and draw him back to me with the "look" command.

For now, I'm happy to have a good way to intervene and reward Zuko for focusing on me. In theory, he should start to look at me in anticipation when he sees another dog, right? :-)

Next step will be working on "go say hi" - for that, I think I may leverage private training with Scott. The benefit of working with a private trainer at a daycare is we can bring dogs in all day long and test Zuko! 

Good Dog?

-- Posted by Zuko's slacker mom/typist

Leash Monster: Update - the proper way to meet and greet

Last week in Leash Monster training, we continued to practice the "leave it" idea. As you dog sees or approaches another dog, you do a "leave it" and then turn the dog around and walk backwards.

It sorta works with Zuko. I think Shibas are related to that little girl in the Exorcist though - Zuko can swivel his head around to a shocking angle and STILL be walking towards me while giving the evil eye to the dog behind him. Impressive, but not helping the situation.

What's that over there? Can I obsess on it? Is it a dog? Please let it be a dog!

Our trainers from Dog Evolve swear by the Gentle Leader head collar. They claim there are pressure points on the back of the head where the leader sits that help calm a dog. Jokingly, they refer to it as "doggie Prozac". And clearly, some of the dogs in class really, really need this. One woman has a herding dog mix who she says is a spaz. I've never seen it - because she's had the Gentle Leader on the dog in every class and he is super mellow. However, I struggle with this - I don't want to use something artificial to force behavior in Zuko. Nor do I want to put him into a zen-trance. I love my happy, energetic dog. I just don't want him lunging at other dogs and being a leash monster. Every other dog in class is using the Gentle Leader now except us. The trainers asked and I said I'd rather not - and the one trainer supported this. She said the only dog she has ever had a complete freak-out-melt-down when having a Gentle Leader on was.... wait for it... yeah, a Shiba Inu (surprise!).

What I have done is switch back to the front-clip Easy Walker harness instead of a collar. I'm guessing dragging him away and him making choking sounds as it happens is not reinforcing the message that leaving dogs alone is a GOOD and HAPPY thing. Of course, this puts us back where we were months ago - we think he was clipped by a harness buckle as a puppy and he flinches everything one of those snap close behind his head. We tried reconditioning him out of it, but he's like a cat - he will never, ever, ever forget it.

So - back to the lesson last week on proper greeting. In my last post I talked about Mr. Rudeness and his face-sniffing issues. In class, we focused on first approaching a dog and doing the "leave it" and turn and walk backward before anyone got snarly. Next, we would pass each other - quickly - the whole time talking to your dog and dangling a treat in front of them. In this exercise, the dogs are next to each other so when they are looking at you and that tasty treat in your hand, they are ignoring the other dog.

The next step is to just stop as they reach nose-to-butt position.  The dogs are facing opposite directions and positioned in the right place to turn their head, sniff butts and be polite. Even the slightest turn of the head to proper sniffing position is immediately marked and rewarded and you continue walking forward.

Whew! Easy enough in class - the dogs are all getting to know each other and everything is calm. At the end of the class they brought in a good sized female lab - a new dog!! This was the test... and everyone passed except for the one dog who barks so much at other dogs she has to be isolated during class or she will not stop. (This dog's trainer is the one who actually needs the training - he's very timid with her).

I am personally relieved I do not need to lead by example to show Zuko the proper way to meet and greet another dog. ;-) We've been working on doing the "leave it" and then "go say hi" and stopping where he can be set up to properly greet. Of course, this morning we met a Shiba mix who he knows and we passed each other, stopped, and they BOTH immediately turned all the way around so they could face-sniff. No monster-badness happened, but I was still left standing there rolling my eyes and shaking my head. Shibas. 

-- Posted by Zuko's bewildered mom

P.S. - If you haven't heard, the Twitter Shibas are considering a National Shiba Inu Meet-up next year! If you could / would attend, please complete this survey before Oct 30th!

Leash Monster! Training class report

Over the past nine months or so, Zuko has been getting more and more reactive to other dogs when on leash. It tends to be very hit and miss and unpredictable. Off leash, he's great. He loves other dogs and does well at daycare and at the off-leash beach. So, needless to say, we were a bit mystified by his on-leash behavior.

Does that look like a Leash Monster to you?

This past Thursday we started "Leash Monster" training with Dog Evolve. First - I just have to say - Zuko is a pretty well adjusted dog. The other dogs in his class have a number of issues going on: attention barking, leash straining, cowering from people, etc. It was nice to get this perspective that he's a pretty easy dog - especially for a Shiba. We believe a lot of it is he has good genes, but I think we should give ourselves some credit for doing at least a few things right with our pup.

OK - so Leash Monster training is specific to dogs who are good off-leash but reactive on-leash. We learned two very important things Thursday night:

1. Zuko is rude. 
2. The lunging, barking and snapping is out of frustration, not aggression.

Let's talk about the rudeness. The trainers were saying his behavior is not unusual for Spitz breeds and Shibas: he's a face-sniffer. He will butt-sniff also, but he often approaches a dog and sniffs their face and apparently in the dog world this is RUDE. So we had a few laughs about needing to train him to always butt-sniff and I expressed that I sincerely hoped I was not going to have to lead through example.

This face-sniffing thing gave me one of those "doh" moments though - I flashed back to his most reactive moments and it is after he has approached a dog and face-sniffed. I'm guessing the other dog then says "rudeness, get out of my face" in some doggie language I don't see and Zuko gets all badass and lunges and snarls. It would also explain why the sighting of another Shiba can sometimes be a total mess as both of them snarl and lunge at each other - because they are both being rude badasses.

One approach the trainers recommended is to pass the other dog and walker first. This sets the dogs up to be facing the proper greeting area - their butts. It also gives you a quick and clear escape route forward if your dog reacts negatively versus being face-to-face and having to drag your dog back away from the other dog.

The second lesson was a bit of relief for me: he's reacting out of frustration, not aggression. We suspected this may be the case since we noticed early on that he would often start growling when we pulled him away to continue his walk. The trainers described the dog's feeling as this: imagine you love ice cream and someone keeps taking you into the best ice creams shops and never letting you buy or taste any ice cream. Wouldn't you be frustrated?

Our homework this week is to work on doing a "leave it" and redirecting his attention when he sees another dog. Since Zuko tends to obsess a bit when he sees another dog, this is challenging but we are working on it. The other homework is to just go the other way when you see a dog or do a very fast "blow by" the other dog - not stopping, not looking, getting past the other dog and then when Zuko is re-focused on us he gets treated.

All of this is easier said then done. San Francisco is a dog-crazy city and so many dogs are off-leash where they shouldn't be and not under any kind of voice control. So I had to ask the question: what if you turn and leave the situation and the other dog follows you. The advice was to keep going, don't look back. If the dog just will not give up, the final emergency-last-ditch advice was to take treats, turn, and throw them at the dog. This will surprise them and they should start snarfing up the treats on the ground and leave off. The trainers discussed that they are not in support of feeding other people's dogs nor rewarding bad behavior (following you and your dog forever) but you have to take care of your dog first. If the other dog's owner isn't doing their job you have to do what you have to do.

So, as with all things: practice, practice, practice this week! Looking forward to our next class!

-- Zuko's Trainer

Trust Expanded

We took the little monster... er... I mean Zuko to Ft. Funston today. For those of you not in the Bay Area, this is pretty much Dog Heaven. Lots of rolling hills and sand dunes at the top of the cliffs. Down on the beach area it just goes on and on - cliffs on one side, water on the other and lots of room to run! For dog owners with recall concerns, the beach is a great area to practice since two directions are closed off by cliffs and water, leaving only two possible escape routes.

In the past I've had Zuko drag a leash so when it is time to catch him, I can step on the leash and stop him in his tracks. The leash also tangles up on his legs and slows the little guy down. All part of my evil plan to control my Shiba. Today, the leash kept really tangling on his back leg and he'd have to stop and wait for us to untangle it. My husband and I made the decision to just take the leash off. And what did Zuko do?? He was GONE up the beach in flash - it was as if he knew he had full freedom. He was still in visual range so we started trudging up that way. He found some dogs to play with for a bit and then suddenly he was coming back our way! Yeah!

I had the ultimate motivator in my pocket: turkey pepperoni. We had skipped breakfast this morning so little dog was very, very hungry and turkey pepperoni is his favorite. It seems he would occasionally remember I had this amazing treat in my pocket and he'd come back to me - sometimes without me even calling him.

We didn't have our Flip video camera with us, but I wish we did - the sheer joy of watching Zuko run with full abandon was great to see. He'd stop, frantically dig in the sand, stick his nose in there and flip out sand and water and then just take off again. By the end he was covered in sand with his tongue hanging out and a belly full of turkey pepperoni. GOOD DOG!

-- Posted by Zuko's mom

Teeth

Shibas are hunting dogs, so I guess it would figure they have ginormous teeth. We've never really compared Zuko's teeth to other dogs, but folks comment on them often.

Last weekend we went out to Carmel Valley and Zuko met his new BFF Riley. Riley is a 60 pound white lab 7 month old puppy - so she had a bit of a size advantage on him. But his TEETH! Bigger than hers and he flashes them often during playtime. He's also very, very vocal when he plays. We don't call him "demon dog" for nothing!

Want proof? Check 'em out:

Love bite

Monster teeth

I'm Fierce!

To get all the action, here is the full video. I had to put cheesy music over it because we were all yapping about pointless stuff as I recorded this and we sounded like dorks.



And for further demon-dog-in-action video, here is another clip on Zuko and Riley:



-- Posted by Zuko's Teeth-Brusher

Loose Leash Walking: A Theoretical Approach

I knowingly violate one of the main tenets of Cesar Millan's theory. I do not have Zuko walk next to me or behind me. Part of this is a conscious decision, part of it is the evolution of a theory.

First off - having Zuko next to me or behind me means I can't always see what he's up to. As many Shiba owners will know, this is VERY important. If he is in front of me, I can always keep my eye on him.

My typical view of Zuko

The second thing is part of the evolution as a first-time Shiba owner. Shiba's are fast and curious little monsters.. errr... I mean dogs. Zuko trots much faster than I can walk. He also is very curious and wants to sniff every single blade of grass in the park. So - the way things go is like this:

1. I use a flexi-lead.
2. Zuko trots ahead of me and commences massive sniffing. 
3. As I draw even with him, he darts ahead of me again. 
4. And commences more massive sniffing. 
5. Repeat 2-4 until you are exhausted. 

Of course, we live in San Francisco in a busy area with lots of cars, bikes, buses, scooters and you name it. So I also have commands like "walk" and "keep going" for times when the flexi-leash is shortened and his job is to walk with me and not obsessively sniff everything in sight. This includes not sniffing every dog we pass. 

I do believe in what I call an active walk. I'm basically ordering Zuko around the whole time. "Stop" and "wait" at every curb. "OK" when I let the flexi run out or when I've decided he is allowed to sniff another dog and "keep going" when I want him to ignore the dog.  "Let's go" when he is tired and gets into super-Shiba-obsessive-sniffing-mode and "this way" when he decides to take a path other than the one I want to travel.

Good dog!

How well does it all work? Well... I think right now I'd give Zuko a "B" on his walking. He knows when I say "let's go" he needs to get a move on and about 90% of the time he does - but sometimes he gets a nasty leash pull because he is determined to sniff dog poop for an hour. I don't hesitate - he has a few seconds to respond or I pull the leash and repeat the command. Rarely do I actually have to drag him away. Unless....

(BEGIN RANT)

... There are other dogs. He loves dogs. Loves, loves, loves them. This is great in a Shiba, but also a real pain in the arse when you are trying to get a power walk done so you can make that 8am conference call for work. I am constantly working on this one - in theory, he should only be allowed to sniff another dog only if I allow it. However,  when other owners have their dogs off leash in an on-leash park, this just fails. It is a huge frustration because it not only sabotages my training with him but also gives Zuko the opportunity to get growly with dogs. So many of these running-free dogs will come bounding up to Zuko with some fairly dominant body postures - and all Shiba owners know a Shiba just does not stand for that. So what to do?

Zuko will often stare down these dogs before they even get to him (this goes back to the idea that having him in front of me means I can see what he is doing). He's clearly sending signals ahead of the confrontation, so I will step in between him and the other dog to break his line of sight and shorten the flexi-leash. If the dog makes it to us, I keep moving with Zuko, using the "keep going" command and "leave it". If it gets ugly, I usually end up dragging Zuko away and / or getting between him and the other dog. Unfortunately, the other dog's owner rarely shows any effort to restrain, train or command their dog. Half the time I can't even see the damn owner anywhere.

(END RANT)

One training method I hear that is successful for many owners is to treat the dog as you walk - whenever your dog comes back willing, walks next to you, looks at you, etc - give them food. Problem: food aggression in busy parks in San Francisco. We've had a few problems where another dog (who is off-leash, of course) decides to fight Zuko for the treat. For recall, I have no other option but to use food and I do - but then I usually have a pack of dogs following me everywhere until the other owners figure it out and call off their dogs. On the walks, I stick to repetition, repetition, repetition to get Zuko into the right habits.

Finally, we have a fun little game we play on walks. I give the command "wait", shorten the leash, then say "ready". The "ready" command alerts him there are birds nearby. He finds them and as soon as he sees them I give the "OK" command and relax the flexi - and he's off!! I run with him as he chases the birds but to this day he still hasn't caught one. ;-) I really don't know what I would do if he DID catch one!

So - what works for other Shiba owners?

Would you like some cheese with that whine?

Classify this under "Odd Shiba Behaviors"... I came across another Shiba owner's post who said their dog did the same thing. Regretfully, I can't find it to link to it! (UPDATE: Thank you Anonymous for posting the "Crying Cookie" link!)

Somewhere around five months, Zuko decided it was too much effort to chew treats. Basically, once his adult teeth were in, he'd chew on chew toys, but not treats. If the biscuit or cookie is too big, he'll just carry it around and WHINE. I use to give him chicken jerky treats and he'd devour them. Now he carries them around in his mouth and cries. It is so funny - not sure how / why he decided we would do anything about this (cause we don't) but it doesn't stop him from trying. Now I give him jerky treats as we leave the house. Strange: we return and they have been eaten. ;-)

Will you please break up this squirrel cookie into bit size chunks for me?

Little help here? *crying*

-- Posted by Zuko's mean horrible mom who won't chew his food for him or at least break it into bite size chunks.

Trust Earned

I've mentioned in other blog posts (and Zuko bitterly tweets about it) that I do not trust him off leash. He's a Shiba and not even two years old yet. In San Francisco, we don't have alot of good areas to practice recall in the open - Ft. Funston is considered Dog Heaven but it is just that: many dogs, many distractions. Not a good place to start! We've done some practice at a fenced-in dog park in Corona Heights and he's been pretty solid there, but... well, it has a fence and isn't really very big. At home, I practice nearly every day when I'm working from home. I pick up a treat (usually cheese) while he is sleeping and call him to me. However, I don't fully trust he'll come back if there are better things to be doing.

Last weekend a good friend invited us to her cottage up in the mountains around Napa Valley. Their dog, Millie, got along super with Zuko and Zuko was being a perfect gentleman. The cottage is on a good piece of land but closed in by deer fencing. We put a long leash on Zuko...and then set him free.

He was a very good dog. Mostly. In general he stuck pretty close to the people (who had food) and to Millie.  On one occasion he decided to go up the driveway and the gate up that way was open since people were coming in and out during the day. He got a little stubborn but when I showed up with cheese, he responded instantly to a "here" command and came back.

Want proof? :-) I recorded some recall and free-running Zuko video so even I would have proof that it all really happened!