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?

Dog Aggression or Aggressive Playing?

So, we had a "thing" happen at the off-leash dog-park today. I took Zuko to work on recall - and that wasn't the problem. In fact, he was like a little red rocket flying toward my hand holding the turkey pepperoni. Good Dog! He was being pretty mellow and interacting with the other dogs well.

Then a big puppy showed up with his older, not very mobile, owner. The puppy was immediately in submissive postures with the other dogs. On the ground, tail tucked - super, super submissive. Hmm. The owner threw out a stuffy toy and Zuko and another dog got it instead and began the tug-o-war. Zuko was LOUD. Very snarly, very growly. If I didn't know otherwise, I would think some dog was getting his ass handed to him. The other dog seemed fine, but I think I was getting some odd looks from the other owners. The stuffy toy came apart in about 30 seconds, and it was over.

Then the submissive puppy got into the mix and Zuko snarled her down. Meaning she was in his face a bit and he snarled and teeth came out and she dropped to her belly and gave a yelp. I was watching closely - Zuko's teeth didn't land on her, but my sense was he wasn't a fan of her attention at that time. I've seen grown up dogs put puppies in their places, but I don't know if that was what I was seeing or not.

Zuko goes to daycare 2-3 days a week and they have never had issues with him there. So - what gives? Am I over-reacting?

-- Posted by Zuko's paranoid people mom

Socialization: Dogs & other Animals

Other Dogs:

After his shots at 16 weeks we immediately went to puppy socials. He was so shy at first! It was amazing to see this little ball of energy suddenly become a wallflower. He figured it out fast though and after about 20 minutes was exhausted. San Francisco is such a huge dog town that we had some other great resources available - we enrolled him in SF Puppy Prep for daycare and for training class. The daycare was a dogsend. They would come over, pick him up, take him to daycare and work on socializing and basic training for a couple of hours then bring him home. I credit this early socializing with his being such a dog-friendly Shiba.

SF Puppy Prep takes puppies up to six months of age. So once Zuko was neutered and turned 6 months, he had to graduate. Our dog-walker suggested Woofgangs, down in San Bruno. My husband works in San Bruno and I often drive down to San Jose - so the daycare is right along the way for me. Woofgangs was another dogsend! Half days of cage-free doggie fun time. They run around like the little beasts that they are and have tunnels and cubes to get on. There is a huge outdoor area and if the rain is bad, a huge indoor area for running in giant circles. Four or five hours there and he is a dead dog after. They call him the party animal and when I was first taking him in, they said one day "he's on his third dog today". Huh? He had worn out the first two dogs. LOL! How awesome is that? They've seen some not-so-well-socialized Shibas there and all dogs must go through an interview process. Zuko passed with flying colors and they said he was the best socialized Shiba they have ever met. Yes!

Due to the "no off-leash with a Shiba Inu" theory, we don't let him off-leash in most dog parks here in the city - they don't have fences and usually there is a bus line or heavy traffic just a sidewalk away. I do not want a pancake dog! However, there is one nice fenced in dogpark that is about a 20 minute walk from us. Zuko has always been terrific at this dog park BUT: most of the dogs here are with pack walkers or professional dog walkers so they are well behaved. Our challenge with dog parks are the dog owners who go there to socialize with humans - not have fun with their dog. So, their dog is off getting into trouble and the owners are a good block away chatting up someone.

The other issue is Zuko himself and the Shiba nature: they play HARD. It is all snarling and teeth and apparent "death to you" but he has never hurt a dog in play. It freaks me out when a giant snarl comes out of my little dog and I see teeth everywhere, but I've learned to let it go. I've also learned to watch his ears for signs of when he is actually pissed and when he's just playing. The other owners: not so much - they can often freak out. So, I tend to not let him play with dogs unless we've met the dog and the owner before, or at dog parks where I know the pack walkers are hanging. I also check in with the folks at Woofgangs now and then to see if he's ever had trouble with other dogs there and they say he's great there. 

Our challenge now is he wants to play with every dog he sees, all the time. We are working on training him on when he can play and when he can not - more on that in another blog down the road.

A small note on other animals. Since Shibas have a strong hunting drive, the general belief is they cannot be trusted. However, Zuko grew up with two cats when he was a young puppy and he loves cats still. They do not love him. I did not socialize him with gerbils, hamsters or any such thing and I'm sure he would chase them and try to eat them.

-- Post by Zuko's staff

Socializing: Environment

We got Zuko out and about right after he came home to live with us, but didn't let him interact with other dogs. The breeder and the vet both felt early socialization was more important than him not having had his 16 week shots and that overall, the risk of him getting sick was low. The risk of not socializing a Shiba early is high, so there is the trade-off. We didn't let him really interact with other dogs or roll in their poop, but our building has another dog and the owner is a complete bitch who never cleans up after her dog in the backyard. So - he was exposed and never suffered harm.

Environment: 
After his full shots, we went everywhere together. We live in San Francisco on a busy street that was, at that time, being torn up by jackhammers. So early on, Zuko was socialized and exposed to all sorts of loud noises and crazy things - big trucks, buses, people with shopping carts, people with walkers, people in hats and hardhats, umbrellas, bicycles and so on and so on. We took him shopping with us to Union Square which is mass chaos and took him in the stores. We took him to a New Years Eve ball. We went to every outdoor cafe within walking distance - often.

It all paid off. Big buses can roll by and he doesn't even flinch. We walk along busy streets with no problem. He has never peed in a store. He is a perfect angel at cafes. I am not sure how we did this one, except I suspect it was the positive reinforcement. When we go to a cafe, I take a bag of treats. When he sits nice or lays down - he gets one. If he is super good, he might get a bit of our brunch. He must have made the connection early on. Also, he is a huge people-watcher and loves to sit there and watch all the people and dogs go by. I have to warn you: taking a Shiba to a cafe is a magnet for admirers. Seriously - we get people who stop and stare, who point or just start talking to us! It is so funny the things people say sometimes.

 

If you live in a quiet, rural area with a Shiba, I strongly recommend taking them to the busy city areas often during the 18 week socialization period. Essentially, anything a puppy has not been around by the age of 18 weeks can cause a fear reaction in them later. If you ever watched the Shiba Puppy Cam, you noticed Mr. and Mrs. Shoes would open and umbrella and just put it in the play area. They did all sorts of things to help socialize the puppies early on, before they even left to their forever homes!

-- Posted by Zuko's people

Essentials: Things learned early - Potty Training

Potty-Training:
Zuko had great bladder control early on. Books said puppies would need to go out every hour and he easily was more like every 2-3 hours from the beginning. We found his patterns quickly: after playing, after eating and after napping, he would need to go out. Any time he was in a new area with other dogs (the dog park, puppy class) he would have to poop after about five minutes of playing. It was a little embarrassing - we'd take him for walks and he'd poop, then get into puppy class and there he would go again. I remember reading somewhere that the smell of other dogs will "stimulate" a puppy to go. Ugh.

He also slept through the night early on - somewhere around four months he was able to go eight hours without trouble. I probably was more paranoid than I needed to be - I would often wake him in the middle of the night, drag him out of his crate and carry him outside in the cold. He'd stand there and stare at me. We did crate train, but after he was about five months old we ditched the crate and now he hogs our entire king-size bed.

We also worked on a potty command "go potty", saying these words EVERY TIME he did anything. He's now 18 months old and frankly - he's a Shiba so I'm not sure how well this works. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. Clearly Pavlov did not run his experiment on Shiba Inus.

I assume most dogs do this, but it impressed me that early on he made the association that he was not to go potty in places where his people were hanging out. We realized he had made this association when we were eating lunch at a cafe and he was still under about six months old. He kept whining, so my husband took him over to a grassy spot - and sure enough, he had to go. I have no idea if this was the Shiba in him or what, but he has never gone in the car, the bedroom, while we are with him at a cafe, in a store - nothing. When he does go on walks, he will go to the furthest end of his flexi-leash and then poop. The exception to this is pee-ing. He will mark every thing within sight on walks if we let him. He's also always been great in stores - not just pet stores, but clothing stores, hardware stores - anyplace that will let him come in, he's been. And never peed!

We also learned (the hard way) that when he is really, really tired he just does not have to go. He had a longer than usual day at doggie daycare one day when he was about eight months old. I brought him home around 5pm. He roused himself to eat about 6pm, and then sacked out again. He didn't go potty that night and I was worried. The next morning - nothing. So I fed him and he FINALLY went outside and took care of all his business. I was so worried when it happened again on another night when he was super tired. I called the vet and asked if it was normal that my dog didn't go to the bathroom for 18 hours straight. While it isn't exactly "normal", it isn't something to panic about either. He's good about telling us when he needs to go, so I tend to just trust him now. Being a paranoid new-puppy mommy, I really stressed about this for a few months. What I slowly figured out was he (literally) poops himself out at daycare sometimes and has got nothin'. Just nothin'!

When we have to "force" him to go, we have a couple of games we play which cause him to jump around alot - after about 10 minutes of this, he's ready to go outside.

My two biggest lessons learned:
1) Keep a routine with feedings. This helps you predict when and how often your puppy needs to go.
2) Once you have a routine, know your dog. For example, Zuko likes to pee on bushy plants to mark and poop in sand. I know this and never go to the beach without at least 2-3 poop bags.

-- Posted by Prince Zuko's pooper scooper

Essentials: Things learned early - Food and Treats

Food and Treats:
When we picked up Zuko, the breeder suggested a raw food diet mixed with Eukanuba kibble. After the pet-food fiasco a few years ago, I just couldn't get on board with Eukanuba. With our cats, we were feeding them Wellness crunchy and wet food. The concept of raw diet was a new experience for me - our vet even said that when he was in college, he would have told us "no way" on raw diet - but now, through experience, he has seen many "mysterious" problems just go away on a raw diet. The food the breeders used came from a local source near them in the South Bay and wasn't easily accessible to us. After asking around and listening to the local dog community, we switched him over to Primal nuggets and Wellness kibble. I like the idea of having a kibble he is use to for those days when we are traveling or for emergencies (earthquake kit). However, something with the Wellness didn't sit well with him and we finally moved to Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet and have stayed with that ever since. He loves the Natural Balance enough that I can use the kibble as treats!

For daily good-dog treats, we buy the Natural Balance crunchy treats and Zuke's salmon treats. The Zuke's are great training treats and he loves them (because they are stinky I suspect). I also buy these dried salmon strips I see in the local pet store and when we come across a dog bakery, he gets a special treat now and then.

Food Allergies:

Shibas are known for food allergies and while we've never done a full scientific process to prove it, corn and wheat in large amounts seems to give Zuko squishy poos. As a puppy, it didn't take much for him to have soft poopy. Too much cheese in training class, a cornchip found on the floor, etc. In general we avoid all corn and wheat products and limit cheese to some of the treats used in training. Soy seems to come up as an allergen in dogs, but Zuko likes edamame so we go with that as a treat when we have some. Must be the Japanese dog in him!

Training treats:

I am so going to get flaming emails on this one: we use Hormel turkey pepperoni as the "dog crack" for Zuko. He will do ANYTHING for turkey pepperoni, even - on a good day and when he is hungry enough - recall and come back to us at the dog park. I know processed food, especially something like pepperoni is B-A-D for dogs. That is why it is used only when Zuko needs the highest possible motivation. Our heirarchy of training treats:

• Kibble. Yup, his daily kibble.
• Zuke's salmon treats
• Cheese - usually part-skim mozzarella but the vet bribes him with spray cheese.
• Turkey pepperoni

In training classes, I bring all the above and as he gets more tired or distracted, I switch to a higher power treat. When working on recall, I go straight for cheese and turkey pepperoni - this is just one area where I do not want to fail. 

Table Scraps:

When I was growing up, dogs got true table scraps - fatty pieces of meat, gravy, mashed potatoes - anything and everything. On a recent trip back to Ohio with Zuko, I caught my grandmother trying to feed Zuko raspberry cheesecake! (I caught it in time - thank goodness). So in the traditional sense, Zuko does not get table scraps.

However: He gets carrots when I'm cutting salad (after doing a sit, down or something - he works for his food always). He gets bits of hardboiled egg, plain salmon and tuna, smoked salmon, plain steak (not the fat), a bit of a hamburger and even duck salami once. I have heard both sides of the argument: this is bad - period ... or by letting him have bits here and there, he gets use to a variety of foods and should he ever eat something off the ground or has to switch food, it is less traumatic. We do it because we love our little guy and share our life with him - and that includes our food, within reason. We strictly avoid all the deadly foods and keep everything in small amounts only. He does NOT get pizza, even though he swears he can handle it!

Feeding Schedule:

Zuko works for all his food - always. He is feed twice a day: first thing in the morning and about 6pm in the evening. We learned early that a standard routine is essential to knowing his potty times. He's pretty darn predictable and when he is not, it is because his big meals have changed times. He is asked to do a "sit" and "wait" for his food bowl. We started this day one and he has never been food aggressive or snatchy with his food. With treats, he must always do something, even if it is just a simple sit.

-- Posted by Fuzzbutt's people

Learning / Studying: How to raise a Puppy!

After we had found Zuko but were waiting for him to grow up enough to come home with us, the homework began! I had dogs as a kid, but so much has changed since then. Also, living in San Francisco, there are many more things to think about - you just can't let the dog out into the huge fenced in back yard to run and play and take care of business!

Several of the blogs listed on the blogroll were a huge help. In addition, there were three books that were a critical part of my education:

• The Art of Raising a Puppy - the Monks of New Skete
• There's a Puppy in the House: Surviving the First Five Months
• Be the Pack Leader - Cesar Millan (Dog Whisperer)

 If you are familiar with these books, you'll notice they have very different styles - which was part of the plan. I am not a good "one size fits all" kind of person, so it seemed a good idea to study several approaches.