Litter Box Issues?

Have you ever wondered why if your cat isn’t using their litter box everyone says to check for urinary tract infection? 
 
We should seek the advice of a vet to explain why that is the physiologic biological pieces, but there is a behavioral component as well. When we have infections in our waste-elimination parts, eliminating is painful. Some animals will associate that pain with the location, smell, or substrate of their bathroom. Because of this, some cats will still struggle to go back to their litter box even after successful treatment of the infection.  
 
For cats, stepping into their litter box is followed by urination, which is painful. These poor cats are experiencing an aversive stimulus immediately after stepping into their litter box! We know that punishment decreases the probability of a behavior, so if they’re experiencing something aversive when stepping into their litter box (and the aversive is working as a punishment), those cats will stop entering their litter box.  
 
But the bodies are funny little things, and they have to eliminate waste. They have to go to the bathroom somewhere, so they’ll often choose a new place with a totally different substrate. Perhaps your wood floors, your bed, or your bathroom rug.  
 
If, when the cat starts eliminating elsewhere, the infection is still present, the pain will still be there. Soon that new place may become poisoned as well. The cat may continue looking for a place, so it looks like your cat is just peeing indiscriminately. We get this idea that the cat just refuses to use the litter box. But what really could be happening is they’re trying to find a place to go to the bathroom that doesn’t hurt. They don’t have the view that we have. They may not know that they could be sick. If they do know, they don’t have the ability to take themselves to the vet to get checked out.  

This is why vets and trainers often need to team up to help an animal with the same issue. We each have an important role to play in the care of pets.  

MEALTIME ENRICHMENT

Most of us do a good job of providing our dogs with enough physical exercise, but we often don’t realize that our dog’s mind needs a workout too! The good news is, we don’t need to dedicate a whole lot of extra time to this; meal time is an excellent time to get some extra training and mental exercise in for your dog. You’ll find a mix of games and DIY puzzles to choose from below.

*If your family consists of multiple pets or children, prevent resource guarding and bites by making sure no children or other pets can interfere with these games and puzzles. You may want to put your dog in a room and close the door while you supervise.

*This is a good time to consider the stoppage of free-feeding if that is your current system. Training, overall, will be more effective if your dog learns that food isn’t free, it needs to be earned, and YOU are the keeper and giver of life-sustaining calories. Once your dog realizes that you hold the key to the things he wants, training will be much easier.

DIY Food Puzzles

Bottle Food Dispenser

Find an empty 2-liter soda bottle, clean and dry. Drill many holes into the bottle, just big enough for your dog’s kibble to fall through. Feed all or some of your dog’s meal from this. They will learn to bat the bottle around to make food fall out. You may need to show your dog how it works at first. If your dog seems frustrated, drill larger holes so the food falls out more easily.

Frozen Kong

Dice up some veggies and cooked meat, mix with some kibble (or just use regular kibble on its own) and stuff into a large Kong. Seal with peanut butter (ensure the peanut butter is dog-safe, no xylitol) and freeze. I will make a full week’s worth of frozen Kongs for my dogs so that I always have them on hand when I need them. Give this to your dog when you need him to quietly occupy some time on his own (during Baby’s naptime, when you’re on an important phone call, etc.). This will work without the freezer, but your dog will finish his treat quickly. Kongs can be cleaned by soaking in warm water with dish soap or on the top rack of your dishwasher. I especially like this exercise as a kennel reward.

Towel Roll

Find an old towel you no longer care about, clean and dry. Lay the towel out flat and sprinkle some kibble all over. Fold in half, lengthwise, sandwiching the kibble inside. Sprinkle some more kibble on top of the folded towel and roll it up tightly. Let your dog unroll and enjoy! You may need to unroll slightly to show your dog for the first time. Here a few videos –  Pepper, Simple Feeding, Towel and Laundry basket.

Snuffle Mat

The snuffle mat works much like the towel roll, but it is easier and doesn’t move around. This is the perfect solution for dogs that startle easily or give up quickly. This is just a mat made of fabric scraps. It hides food pieces slightly. This is what they look like.

Food Games

Find It

Hide small piles of food under/inside cardboard boxes. Your dog will have to learn to remove the boxes to get his meal. When your dog gets really good at this game, you can incorporate some empty boxes. This will make the hunt more difficult and heighten the excitement of finding a box that does contain food.

Hunting

Simply hide small piles of food around the room or throughout the house. If your dog is a heavy resource-guarder, stick to one room and close the door to keep children and other pets from interfering. Your dog will quickly learn to hunt for his food, using up mental energy throughout the day.

Choose the Correct Hand

Place some food in one hand, leave the other empty. Make both hands into a fist. Present your fists to your dog. When he touches the correct hand with his nose, reward him by opening your fist and allowing him to eat the contents.  When he gets good at this game, you can require your dog to sit before he is rewarded.

Training

You can also use your dog’s mealtime to double as your training time. It’s a great way to train fun party tricks like this – Would you rather… It doesn’t take a ton of time; 30 seconds up to 10 minutes each  day are perfect for optimal learning and retention.

For more ideas, visit the Facebook group Canine Enrichment.

Cats on the Counters

If your cat jumps up on the counters, you probably don’t like the thought of those litter-kickers all over your food prep surfaces. So you peruse the internet and find a brilliant solution. Maybe you spray the cat with water or you shake a can of pennies in an attempt to scare your cat away from the counter.

There are several possible outcomes:

1.) It Works

If, after 1-5 repetitions, you notice a shift in your cat’s behavior around the counters (they stop jumping up there), you’re golden! And you’re in the lucky minority of cat owners. You’re done! You probably don’t need to keep reading this article. Go celebrate with an ice cream cone; life is good!

2.) It sort of works.

The cat may jump off, which may make you think it works. But the cat may come right back, or come back when you’re not looking. If this is happening, then your training plan isn’t really working. It may seem like it’s working, because the cat jumps off, but your cat probably isn’t learning what you want him to learn. Your cat might be learning that it’s not okay to jump on the counter while you’re looking, or while you’re in the room, but it’s okay at other times. If our goal is to train the cat not to jump up on the counters at all, we need to rethink our plan.

This scenario is one that can lead to the most frustration and animosity between cat and owner. If the human really wants their cat to stop, and the human is convinced that this should be working, but the cat is just stubborn, this may lead the owner to dislike their cat, or even think their cat doesn’t love them because the cat refuses to listen or follow the rules. This can even lead some owners to consider even more extreme measures, getting caught up in an escalating cycle that never ends. I don’t have real data to support my opinion, but I think this is what happens in most cases.


3.) It Doesn't Work At All

Maybe your cat likes to be sprayed with water. Or maybe the sound of the penny-filled can just doesn’t bother him. Most of us living organisms have genes that tell us to persist in the face of adversity. That means that we’ll tolerate pain and discomfort in order to keep existing, eating and reproducing. If you’ve ever heard a trainer say “Reinforcement drives behavior,” this is what we mean. For these reasons and more, punishment just isn’t as helpful as reinforcement, when it comes to molding or modifying an animal’s behavior.

Some owners might resort to using pain or other more powerfully aversive stimuli in an attempt to get their cat to stop jumping on the counter. That might work. Or it still might not work. It might push this cat into category 2 (it sort of works). Or, it could push this cat into our 4th category.


4.) It Works Too Well

I’ve been invited into many homes where a spray bottle or a penny-filled can was used, and now the cat is fearful all the time. The cat might never enter the kitchen again. The cat may isolate himself in the basement, or only come out of hiding at night.

This is not the most common outcome, but it is a possible outcome, and it’s impossible to know for sure which cats will have a reaction like this. Are you ready to deal with this level of fallout?

So what’s the solution?

Let’s look at biology and ethology.

Cats like to be up high. Their DNA tells their brain to be up high. Just like our human brain tells us to cook our food (most of it, anyway). Being up high has kept generations upon generations of cats safe and fed and alive. We can’t remove that part of our cat’s brain, so why not use it to our advantage? Here are three strategies that can help make life with your cat better:

* Think about providing a station, or several stations to serve as appropriate up-high places for your cat. Make those places extra-special. Tall dressers, sturdy and wide shelving stacked like steps up a wall, or perhaps one specific part of a kitchen counter is acceptable? Consider feeding you cat’s meals in these places, hiding special treats like real tuna, chicken, cheese, or whatever your cat really loves, there for your cat to discover. Instead of pestering you while you prepare your human meals, your cat may sit on his/her station to receive periodic reinforcers. This will keep your cat out of the way without the need for high-conflict interactions. If you cat is able to get all the good things from these appropriate places, and we keep other temptations off of the kitchen counters, we will see our cats spending more and more time in the appropriate places, because it pays to be there. Over time, the brain learns to enjoy being there, because good things happen there. So you don’t always need to be using as much food. But it is important to keep the rate of the reinforcement at a reasonable level; reinforcement drives behavior, after all.

* Consider providing your cat’s daily meals (or at least one) through some sort of puzzle. If your cat needs to work or hunt to eat, she will get to use parts of her brain that are often neglected when living in the lap of luxury as a pet. She may become more content, reducing the amount of time she spends getting into trouble on your countertops.

* Give your cat a long lasting treat or toy when you really need them to stay out of your way. For me, that means Francis gets a sprig of the wild catnip growing in our yard when I am cooking things that he normally likes to try and steal. For others, a small Kong filled with their kibble and frozen with pureed tuna or chicken might be helpful. Anything that will keep your cat’s attention long enough for you to accomplish your goals uninterrupted will do!

Next time you find yourself irritated with your cat (or any other pet), take a step back and think about how you might help them meet the need that they are trying to fulfill, only in a more appropriate manner.

Hand Target

This is an extraordinarily simple task, yet it provides seemingly infinite benefits:

1) You’ll teach your dog that human hands are something to get excited about, minimizing the risk of a bite.

2) You’ll have a way to “call” your dog if he ever goes deaf.

3) You can use it to call your dog away from literally anything!

    a) Use it to redirect your dog’s attention when he’s barking his head off at the mail carrier.

    b) Use it to distract your dog from a stressor.

    c) Get your dog away from another dog that seems “iffy.”

4) You can use it to combat boredom. Once your dog understands the task, you can make it really fun! You can use this to teach new and more difficult

5) Use it to get your dog into the “heel” position (or any position).

6) Use it to move your dog out of the way, instead of “manhandling.”

Supplies:
– Clicker

– Treats + treat bag

– A dog

– Your hand

Instructions:

Have your clicker ready in one hand. Present your other hand as a very flat palm. Simply wait until your dog touches your hand with his nose. You do not need to say anything. You do not need to prompt your dog in any way. Just wait. The instant your dog touches your hand, click! and treat. Repeat until your dog seems to understand the game.

Maintain the behavior by “surprising” your dog randomly when you’re not in training mode. Hold out your hand while you’re watching TV, taking a walk, doing yardwork, etc. After successfully training “touch,” perform the maintenance training 3-5 times per day for several weeks or months. When you feel like your dog is racing to touch your hand with enthusiasm every single time, you can bring the maintenance training down to 3-5 times per week if you like, but you might find yourself using the hand target as part of your daily life!

Two Tails: A real life training comparison

Have you ever wanted to know what the same situation would look like on dogs trained using different methods?

What happens when a shock collar doesn’t work?

How does food prevent unwanted behaviors?

We’ll explore these questions below.

The Long Line
I was walking Calvin, a sweet and exuberant little Cocker Spaniel, on a 15 long line. He loves people and will jump on
anyone within reach. I saw a family with small children taking a walk together, making their way towards us. I walk Calvin on a 15-foot long line, so I reeled in the leash to make it shorter. We played “Look at That!” while the family passed us. Calvin wanted to interact with the children, but we were working on being okay with letting people walk by without rushing up and interrupting their day. As soon as the family
passed us, Calvin and I were able to happily continue our walk like nothing happened.

The Shock Collar
About two blocks behind me, I saw the family approach a man walking his sweet and exuberant German Shorthair Pointer. Instead of a leash or a long line, this dog was wearing an electronic collar (a shock collar) with no physical control. The dog forged ahead of his owner, excited to interact with the children. The man called his dog back, but the dog ignored the commands. The man pulled out a remote and pushed the button. The dog shook his head, but continued moving toward the children. The man fiddled with the remote, I assume to turn the stimulus up. He called the dog and was ignored again. He pushed the button and the dog shook his head more forcefully, and this time, the dog stopped forward movement.

I noted that the dog didn’t make any attempt to move toward his owner, and instead chose to wait for his owner to catch up. The dog walked near his owner for a few seconds, but when the family was close enough, he just couldn’t handle it, and jumped on all of the children. The family didn’t seem to mind, but the owner was visibly frustrated and angry. He pushed the button again when he wanted to keep moving but his dog wanted to play. The dog reluctantly complied, but was immediately confronted with a new challenge.

The human-dog pair was very close to an intersection at this point, when a pickup came through. The dog, still coming down from the excitement of meeting the children, ran out into the intersection, ignoring his owner’s distressed cries. I saw the owner desperately push buttons on the remote, and he pushed the big button again, after which his dog yelped and whimpered. While this did stop his dog from getting run over,
his dog still made no attempts to go back to his owner. Instead, the dog just stood in the middle of the street, uncomfortably waiting for his owner to come to him. The man stormed out of sight, visibly upset. I have no idea what happened after the man and dog left my field of vision, but I know from its body language and facial expressions that the dog was confused and scared.

The Result
The shock collar did not prevent this dog from reaching its target (the family), and the shock collar did not prevent this dog from running into the street. What if this dog was not just overly eager and friendly? What if this dog was intent on harming the family? What if, in his attempt to control his dog by using pain, the owner tipped his dog over from eager to aggressive by applying pain? Does the owner even know that “tipping” is a thing that can happen? What if, the fear and pain from the collar had caused the dog to run fast and far away in an attempt to escape the aversive stimulus? Does the owner know that this is a possible outcome? There are so many risks associated with using a device like a shock collar, and most dog owners do not even know what those risks are.

This example is in no way reflective of how a highly skilled “balanced” or punishment-based trainer would use the tool, but it highlights some of the reasons that it is dangerous for most people to use this tool. The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) recently released a statement on the use of shock.

“The use of shock in training and behavior is not considered a best practice by the IAABC or the Joint  Standards of Practice, and is strongly discouraged.

Our goal is to eliminate the use of shock devices from training and behavior work, and to do so by modeling, educating, and providing members with effective alternatives.

We focus on reinforcing desired behaviors, and always ask the question, “What do you want the animal to do?” Relying on punishment in training does not answer this question, and therefore offers no acceptable behavior for the animal to learn to replace the unwanted behavior. These LIMA guidelines do not justify the use of aversive methods and tools including, but not limited to, the use of electronic, choke or prong collars in lieu of other effective positive reinforcement interventions and strategies.

Members found failing to follow these requirements are subject to Ethics Committee recommendations for education, suspension of membership, or revocation of certification.”

Members of the IAABC are top-rated behavior consultants across the world. They are held to high educational and ethical standards. The IAABC is telling its highly skilled and educated certificants that shock is unhelpful at best, harmful at worst, and should be eliminated. Imagine the damage that a pet owner with fewer skills and less education can do.

Ethics aside, research shows, time and again, that rewards-based training is safer, faster, and more effective.
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To find a skilled, ethical and certified trainer, check the directory of Certified Professional Dog Trainers at www.ccpdt.org, the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants at www.iaabc.org, or reach out to The Laughing Dog at www.LaughingDogFM.com.

Clickers Galore! Which One is Right for You?

There are so many clicker choices! Where is a person supposed to start? 

If you are looking at all of the options available to you, and feeling overwhelmed, I hope this post can be of help.

The classic box clicker produces the loudest, most crisp-sounding click. It is super-cheap and readily available. You can find it at any pet store. I think I’ve even seen a box clicker at Walmart. I will say that the downside to these clickers – they are difficult to use while wearing mittens or thick gloves. This may not not the best choice for pets that are sensitive to loud noises.

Then there is the the I-Click. It is popular among professional trainers, and for good reason! It is easier to use while wearing mittens or gloves, and it is easy to click with your foot. If you’re ever working on something that requires both of your hands, but you can use your toe/heel to mark the behavior, this is probably the clicker you want to use. 

There are some fancier clickers that fill a niche. The Clicinco Clicker Ring is a clicker that is worn on a finger like a ring. I have not yet used one. I’ve heard mixed reviews on this clicker. Some people love it, and others have been less impressed. I’m told it is not a loud click, but if you are looking for something to wear like a ring, this may be the right clicker for you. 

This PetSafe clicker is another one that you can wear on your finger. I have two of these! One for my car and one for my living room. I like it a lot. It produces a softer click. It is fairly easy to use when wearing thin-medium weight gloves, which is great when you live on the Minnesota-North Dakota boarder like me. I typically wear this one when I am training all day and my hand gets fatigued from holding a box clicker all day. 

Then we have the Click Stick! I also have one of these. This is great for teaching a targeting behavior to animals that don’t like to have their space invaded, are uncomfortable getting close to your body, or are too dangerous to work closely with.

Finally, we have this ingenious clicker that attaches to the leash! I have one of these and LOVE it. Fairly easy to use with gloves or mittens, but not as easy as the I-Click clicker. It is a softer click than the box clicker. 

The industry is constantly evolving and experiencing innovations, so there may be more clicker styles than I have listed here. But I hope that this list can help my readers choose a clicker that will function well in their daily lives!

Car Trouble

Mason had a lot of trouble in the car. For the first two years of his life, riding in the car with him was incredibly stressful. He would whine and drool the entire trip, no matter how long the ride was. He’d scream so loud, it made me dizzy. He would try to attack the cars around us. He threw his body against the windshield so hard, it cracked. At one point, he even threw himself out of a moving vehicle.

If a client came to me with these problems, the first thing I’d suggest is using a crate to confine the dog and a blanket to block their view. I tried this with Mason, but he broke out and was somehow even more agitated than if I just let him ride loose. It was awful. If you’re reading this, odds are you’re dealing with something similar. I have good news; he’s better now; almost normal! Here’s what I did:

Chapter One: Stationary Work
Week One: I put a moratorium on going places until the dog was ready. Fed all meals in the stationary car. I fed out of a Kong or other food puzzle to make the training sessions longer and more interesting. I sat in the driver’s seat while he was eating. During Week One, I’d get out of the car and release the dog before he finished eating, leaving him wanting more, and wanting to get back in to finish (I wouldn’t recommend this for a heavy resource guarder. My dog has very little guarding behavior).

Weeks Two and Three: I’d have us sit in the stationary car for a few minutes, sometimes at mealtime, sometimes with just a quick little snack. I always brought him out before he got worked up. I varied the amount of time we were in the stationary car so that he didn’t learn to count the seconds/minutes. My protocol here is based on Dr. Karen Overall’s Relaxation Protocol.

Chapter 2: Add Some Motion

Note: Weeks 4, 5,6 and 7 I used the highest value reinforcer for my dog. After that, I switched back to his kibble because he demonstrated that he slightly more comfortable, and would accept the kibble as a reinforcer at 8 weeks.

Week Four: I spent this week starting the ignition and letting the car run while I fed the highest value reinforcer for my dog – rotisserie chicken. Again, I varied the amount of time we spent in the car. Sometimes it was 2 seconds, sometimes it was 3 minutes.

Week 5: Now I began putting the car in drive or reverse but not taking my foot off the brake. This was just to get him used to hearing the gears.

Weeks 6 through 14: I would drive for a quarter of a block for a week (randomly alternating reverse driving), half a block, around the block. After a few weeks I really randomized the length of drives. Sometimes we’d go back to a quarter of a block (again, keeping Relaxation Protocol in mind). I always had treats/kibble at the ready to throw into the backseat to help maintain control. After about two months, I thought the difference was noticeable. We made slow but steady progress weekly.

We stayed at this stage for about three years, mostly because I was comfortable at this level, and didn’t do more to advance, and partly because it is tricky to keep the dog under threshold while you’re driving. I did this with no helpers. I think if I’d had helpers to do the driving it would have cut down the training time. An alternative would be some sort of remote trainer like the Treat and Train or the Pet Tutor.

Chapter 3: Refinement
We maintained at a level of “if we have enough kibble to provide him with near-constant reinforcement, we can go anywhere.” It was exhausting, and we’d have setbacks all the time. He’s also dog reactive, so every time we saw a dog while in the car, we’d have to go back to the protocol for weeks 6-14. After about three years of this, he was doing quite well on the freeway. I was super happy with the improvement. But he was still struggling in town, getting especially worked up when we’d stop at stop lights or make turns. I learned to toss treats in the back when I start slowing down. After a few months of that added practice, he became pretty decent to drive around with.

He still has trouble when we see other dogs. I’m not sure this will ever go away completely, but I started driving by dog parks at a far-away distance with our highest value reinforcer, and after 6 months, I was able to reduce our distance and that reinforcer to regular kibble again. After roughly 2 more years of this added practice, for the first time, I drove by a dog and he didn’t freak out. He saw the dog, got excited, and looked to me for a piece of well-earned kibble. It’s been a long time coming, but I feel like we have finally arrived.

If you made it this far, please enjoy this boring video showcasing how our car rides are going these days!

If you’d like more personal help, please call or email The Laughing Dog to set up a consultation.