Tag: dog behavior

The Truth About Using “Human Food” in Training

Posted on by Allie Bender

I hear the phrase “human food” frequently. For those of you who haven’t heard this term, “human food” refers to foods that we commonly eat as opposed to food that is specifically marketed for our pets’ consumption. Usually it pops up in one of the following phrases:

I never give him human food. 

Is it okay to give him human food? 

If I use human food for training won’t it make her beg?

I’m going to be blunt. This phrase bothers me, for several reasons, one of which is because it’s pretty arbitrary. What’s the actual difference between “human food” and “pet food”, especially with the higher quality foods now available for our pets? They’re both edible and in many situations they’re the same core ingredient. Whole, natural foods should not be exclusively for human consumption.

Another reason for my gripe is that I think this phrase unnecessarily burdens some aspects of training and behavior modification. Let’s explore a few examples of how this distinction can be burdensome:

I recently met with a new client who had already started her behavior modification journey with a veterinary behaviorist. She mentioned the expense that comes with behavior modification: the veterinary behaviorist, me, and the treats. She was using great-quality, expensive treats for activities requiring high-value food. I commended her for using great treats, and agreed that they were expensive, which is why I use things like boiled chicken, string cheese, and peanut butter for Oso’s high-value foods. He loves them, I have them on hand more frequently, and they’re way cheaper than pet foods that he equally loves. I saw a look of relief cross her face as she admitted that she hadn’t thought about using those kinds of foods. 

A few years ago, I had a client who wanted to work on her dog’s behavior while she was making dinner. We discussed the management options but she really wanted to work on training instead, so we started talking about place training. She told me that she wasn’t keen on using treats for this because she’d need to wash her hands too frequently between working with the dog and preparing the meal. I suggested she use dog-safe components of whatever she was cooking, instead of store-bought treats, and that solved that problem. The dog now calmly waits on her mat instead of being a nuisance in the kitchen. 

Sometimes we create our own problems by having an arbitrary distinction between “human food” and “pet food”, as seen above. Instead, I tell clients that as long as it’s safe (I.E. non-toxic and does not cause digestive problems) and your pet likes it then consider it an option for training. 

But does that make them beg?

Often, when I recommend using meats, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables, I get some form of the question, “But does that make her start begging?” I think this is more the point that people are after when they talk about “human food” vs. “pet food” in the first place. So let’s address that!

There is nothing intrinsic to the food we eat that makes our pets beg. Sure, we eat some things that our pets may find pretty tasty, but that’s probably not true of everything (even Oso decided ginger wasn’t his jam). The same rules of food preferences and high-value foods vs. low-value foods still apply regardless of who the food is marketed for (check out last month’s blog post on food preferences here!) The reason that some people see an increase in begging when giving their pets “human food” is all about the delivery and timing, which is being incorrectly conflated with the food itself. Let me show you a few examples.

Here’s a picture of Oso, who is learning to stay out of the kitchen while we cook. Specifically, I want him to be on the hardwood instead of the tile. He gets to choose where exactly that is and in what position he’s in. I trained this behavior using– you guessed it– the dog-safe ingredients from our meal (particularly veggie scraps we weren’t going to eat anyway). 

Here’s another example of Oso while we’re eating. The behavior I want is for him to lie next to me and I trained this using food from my plate. 

And one last one: snacking on the couch means “head down”. I also trained this with the food I was eating. 

It’s clear the old adage, “Don’t feed your dog from your plate or else he’ll beg”, doesn’t have to be true. So what’s the difference?

The reason that Oso can politely hang out while being trained with “human food” is because I kept in mind that our pets are always learning, even if we don’t mean to be teaching them. I reinforced Oso for very specific behaviors that I liked instead of giving him food willy-nilly or based on my behavior (E.G. When I’m done eating he licks the bowl clean, regardless of what he was doing before I offered the bowl). 

Reinforcement increases the probability of a behavior happening again. We do things that work for us, our pets included. Additionally, to truly be reinforcing the consequence has to happen within 3-5 seconds of the behavior and there can’t be another behavior in between (behavior chains are a thing that make the last part of that sentence not completely accurate, but that’s a topic for another day). That means that I need to be strategic about when I give him food in order to get the behaviors I want to see more of. 

If I were to give him snacks for classic “begging” behaviors– putting his nose next to my plate, his head on the table (he’s barely tall enough), nudging my hand– then those are the behaviors I’d see more of. Instead, I only gave him snacks when he was on the hardwood (which gives us space), lying down, or with his head down, respectively. So I got more of those behaviors! The trick is in the timing. 

Now what?

  • Do you have a mental block against using “human food”? Let’s start small. Do a food preference test with some veggies (frozen often work great) to see if you can incorporate any of those into your training. 
  • Ready to try it out? Try teaching a stationing behavior (go to a place and hang out there) while you’re doing something with food: preparing a meal, eating. 
  • Working through a behavior modification plan with your consultant? Do a food preference test to determine if there’s something higher-value than what you’ve been using. Meats are a classic go-to for both dogs and cats. 
  • Share with us your own examples of training with “human food” on Facebook or Instagram @petharmonytraining.

Happy training!

Allie

A small white dog getting a treat from their human at the kitchen table. Only the learner decides what food is high value!

Ice Cream Vs. Brussels Sprouts: High-Value Foods

Posted on by Allie Bender (she/her)

Updated June 19, 2026 I like both ice cream and Brussels sprouts. However, there is a difference in my preference level between those two foods. I will choose ice cream over Brussels sprouts almost every time. I like ice cream more; it’s more valuable to me. Our pets are the same way. They may like a lot of different types of foods, but that doesn’t mean there’s no preference between them. There’s a difference between ice cream and Brussels sprouts even if you’re not picky.

Why Do We Use Food in Training?

Posted on by Allie Bender

A common question when it comes to animal training is:

Why are we using food to train?

Do we have to use treats?

Can’t I just use praise or petting?

Let’s dive into why we use food in training and why it can be so beneficial to the learning process. Doing so requires knowing a little about the science behind it and a reminder that only the learner gets to decide what is actually reinforcing to him.

Types of reinforcers*

There are several different categories of reinforcers, but let’s just focus on primary and secondary reinforcers for now. Primary reinforcers are those things that are necessary for survival: food, water, shelter, etc. Because they’re necessary for survival, all individuals find these reinforcing in most situations. Secondary reinforcers are things that have been paired with primary reinforcers so that they too become reinforcing: toys (paired with play and fun), petting (paired with physical contact), etc. Because they must be learned, they are not inherently reinforcing to all individuals. 

As mentioned, food is a primary reinforcer because it’s necessary for survival. That’s why it’s so easy to use food in training; it’s [almost] always desirable! Whereas secondary reinforcers, which can be powerful training tools, need to be paired with a primary reinforcer first and in a way that makes them just as powerful. Essentially, we have to do extra training in order to make those things as successful. This is why toys may be reinforcing for one dog but not for another, whereas food is generally reinforcing for both. In short, primary reinforcers are more likely to actually be reinforcing without additional training and among those, food is usually the easiest to dispense. 

*Side note: there’s a problem with how I’m talking about reinforcers in sweeping generalizations in this section which goes back to only the learner decides what’s reinforcing. We have to actually observe the behavior to see if it’s increasing or decreasing to deem something as reinforcing in that context. It’s not enough to just apply a reinforcer and assume that it’s going to work in the way that we intended; observation is vital. Additionally, reinforcers are not always desirable (yeah, behavior is weird sometimes) and so these sweeping generalizations can get dicey. In short, know that there’s a lot more to the story above and that this is just meant to dip your toe into this topic as a pet parent.

Common concerns

When speaking with pet owners, I find that the concerns about using food vs. another type of reinforcer have less to do with the actual science and “why”, and more to do with one of the following concerns. 

“I’m worried about them gaining too much weight.”

I often hear something along the lines of, “He’s going to weigh 300 lbs at the end of this!” while speaking with clients about their pet’s behavior modification plan. While it’s said as a joke, it really is a way of voicing concern about weight gain. Others come right out and tell me that they’re worried about their pet gaining weight because of training. It can be a valid concern, especially for certain breeds.

If we’re working with a young, growing pet or a high-energy individual who hasn’t had weight concerns before, I tell my clients that while it’s something to keep in mind, we don’t necessarily have to be immediately concerned. Let’s start the behavior modification process and if we see some weight gain then let’s adapt accordingly. If we start to see problems or if it’s an individual or breed who is prone to weight gain, then we have some options:

  • Use smaller treats (I break small training treats in halves or quarters even for Oso)
  • Experiment with fruits and veggies for treats
  • Set aside some of their meals to use for training
  • If it’s a treat-heavy day then give them a little less during meal-time

“I’m worried they’ll get an upset stomach.”

There are many people who’ve experienced their pet having an upset stomach due to the type of treat or having too many treats. I often hear of pets throwing up or having diarrhea after hour-long training classes. Some pups will keep eating even if they’ve surpassed their limit! If this is something you’ve experienced, keep in mind that training sessions at home should never be that long. 

As trainers, we have to compromise in providing longer services (aka training sessions) because it logistically works better; we wouldn’t recommend actually training that long (which is why there needs to be so much down time where the pet isn’t working during those services). I generally start with training for 2-3 minutes, then take a break, then train for another few minutes. Many pets are done after 10-15 minutes of this repeating cycle. Some pets (*cough cough* puppies) need less training time than that whereas seasoned learners can go for longer. Short bursts of training can be quite effective. And, short sessions means you’re not plying them with food for an hour at a time, causing upset stomachs.

The other factor behind this concern is for pets who have naturally sensitive stomachs. In that case, we should be speaking with the vet about what foods they can have and limiting the ingredients to what their stomach does well with. Sometimes we have to get creative when it comes to certain diets; a professional can help with that since it’s more specific to your individual pet’s needs.

“I don’t want them to become dependent on food.”

Cheeky response warning: I hate to break it to you, but if they’re alive then they’re dependent on food. We all need food to survive and that’s where the dependence comes from, not from using it in training. 

What I think people really mean when saying this is…

“Do I have to use food for training forever?”

It depends. It depends on if you’re talking about one specific behavior or when teaching new skills, your pet, and a few other things. If you’re talking about always using food while teaching new skills, I would say the answer is, “Sure, because it’s easier to do so.” You could absolutely beef up your other reinforcers so that they’re as effective as food is at teaching new behaviors, but the “work smarter not harder” response is to continue using food for teaching new skills.

If we’re talking about one specific behavior, then my answer is still, “It depends.” Oso has a few behaviors that I never treat him for; I use “real-life reinforcers” to maintain the behavior. For instance, he knows an “up” cue for jumping on the furniture or jumping into our laps. The reinforcement for doing those behaviors is proximity to us (which his behavior has said is reinforcing) and being on the comfy furniture. However, there are behaviors that I will always treat him for because they’re a matter of safety and they need to be super reliant, like coming when called. Real-life reinforcers aren’t enough to maintain that specific behavior for him in all situations. 

To break down that “it depends” into a more concrete answer: It depends on whether other things– like petting, praise, toys, etc.– are enough to maintain the behavior to the level you want/need it to be. If yes, great. You can maintain the behavior with other reinforcers. If no, then continue using food. 

“It’s difficult to have food on me all the time.”

If you’re one of those people, like me, who doesn’t enjoy having treats in their pockets then yes, this is true. (More power to those people who do it, though!) To get around this, I have treat jars set up around my house for easy training and recommend that folks keep a stocked treat pouch attached to their leash for easier access. 

“Food doesn’t always work.”

Even though it’s a primary reinforcer, there are reasons why food would not be reinforcing in certain situations. In more extreme cases, I’ve seen where punishment related to food has essentially made food itself scary. But the more common reasons are that we’re asking them to do something that’s not worth the food or that they’re not able to learn at that moment. 

Let’s use a human example to explore when food isn’t worth it. Say you’re doing one of your favorite activities and someone approaches you and tells you that you need to stop what you’re doing and do your taxes instead. Fat chance, right? Maybe they offer your $5 to switch tasks. Thanks but no thanks. Now let’s say they offer you $50,000 to stop what you’re doing and do your taxes right now instead. I don’t know about you, but I would jump on that opportunity.  If you were given $50,000 for switching from your favorite activity to doing your taxes enough times then you would readily make the switch because you have a reinforcement history for doing so with a reinforcer that’s worth it. 

Now, let’s apply that to an example that I mentioned earlier: I always use food as a reinforcer for Oso’s recalls. Oso is outside doing one of his favorite activities of hunting for rodents. I need him to come inside so that I can leave; he’ll be left alone with something to do but it’s definitely way less fun than hunting for rodents. I could offer him the Oso-equivalent of $5 for coming inside: a kibble. Or I could offer him the Oso-equivalent of $100 for coming inside: treats he loves. A kibble just isn’t worth it; it needs to be better than that. Oso now has a strong enough reinforcement history that I don’t necessarily need to give him the treat but because I want to keep it as a super reinforcing behavior I will continue to do so. 

The other reason why food might not work in that moment is because of stress, fear, or anxiety. Food isn’t reinforcing when you’re protecting yourself from a perceived threat. We’re just focused on living to eat another day at that moment. I wrote an article dedicated to this here, titled “Does Your Pet Have Mountain Lion Brain?”

Now what?

  • If you’re hesitant to use food in training, which of the above reasons most resonates with you?
  • Take the time to read through and sit with that point. What concerns do you still have?
  • Speak with your behavior consultant or trainer about those concerns; they can help!
  • Get to training and make your own observations. What reinforcers build super strong behaviors in your pet? 

Happy training!

Allie

June 2020 Training Challenge: Determine Where Your Dog Falls on the Sociability Chart

Posted on by Allie Bender

As y’all know, this year’s training challenges are inspired by different categories of enrichment that we illustrate in our book Canine Enrichment for the Real World. This month’s challenge is inspired by one of the chapters we get a lot of questions about: social interaction (chapter 8). The challenge is:

Determine where your dog falls on the sociability chart

Emily and I like this chart (replacing the term “aggressive” for “solo”) illustrating the different levels of sociability. 

Created by the amazing Lili Chin

One of my favorite things about this chart is that it clearly shows that far fewer dogs “love all other dogs” than American culture would have us believe. There’s this really pervasive myth in our culture that dogs should love everyone and everything, regardless of how the other individual is acting towards them. We expect them to be perfect all of the time. I don’t know about you, but that sounds not only exhausting but also impossible. 

There are far more dogs who fall in the “Dog Tolerant” and “Dog Selective” categories. And that’s okay. Just like humans, there are dogs who don’t get along with everyone. There are those who have their friends and prefer to hang out with only them. There are those who have a large group of friends and others who have a small group. And all of that is okay, just like it is for humans. We’ve been domesticating them for a long time to hang out with us, not necessarily with other dogs. It’s only been in the last decade or so that we’ve seen a greater push for dogs to all play together.

When you’re going through this chart, take a step back and think about where your dog’s sociability is today, not when they were a puppy or even 6 months ago. Most puppies and adolescent dogs fall into the “Dog Social” category (though not all do). As they age, they usually leave that category and fit more accurately into another option. Needs and desires change with age and we should respect their current wishes instead of trying to adhere to who they used to be. I’m sure we would all ask others to do the same for us. 

Additionally, it’s possible for sociability to change based on experience. I unfortunately have people reaching out to me fairly regularly because their dog has become selective or reactive (or even solo) after being attacked by or in a fight with another dog. Even one traumatic experience can change how they feel about new dogs as a whole.

So, it’s possible for a dog’s sociability to decrease, but how about increase? Sure. Behavior modification can help with that. One of the types of cases we work with most frequently is helping reactive dogs feel more comfortable around other members of their species. However, this behavior change can only be to a certain point. Learning history is only one factor that contributes to overall behavior. There are things that we can’t control or change, like age, genetics, and primary socialization periods. It’s unlikely that a dog in the “Dog Aggressive/Solo” category will move all the way up to the “Dog Social” category. We should set our sights on increasing sociability to the “Dog Selective” category instead, and I recommend having a behavior professional help you do that to make sure the process goes safely and smoothly.

The overall goal of this challenge is to be able to make more effective enrichment decisions based on where your dog’s sociability lies. Another myth that’s quite pervasive is that we need to be “socializing” our dogs with other dogs in order for them to live happy, fulfilling lives. But that’s only true for a certain subset (and it’s not actually socialization from a behavior standpoint after a certain age [I talk a bit about that here])! We should absolutely set up playtime for our “Dog Social” dogs and allow our “Dog Tolerant” and even some “Dog Selective” dogs to play with their friends in scenarios that they enjoy. But we can also meet social interaction needs by interacting with humans, especially for our “Dog Aggressive/Solo” and “Dog Selective” pets. I’ve met many dogs who are perfectly happy and well-enriched by interacting with humans alone. 

Here are some options for activities that dogs can do together:

  • Playtime (like well-run dog parks, daycares, boarding facilities, or just setting up a playdate in your yard)
  • Walks & hiking
  • Swimming
  • Training together (and at a distance for our “Solo” and “Selective” friends!)

And activities for dogs to enjoy with their humans:

  • Physical exercise games, like fetch and tug
  • Mental exercise games, like scent work and hide and seek
  • Training (especially trick training!)
  • Cuddle time for those who enjoy it
  • Walking & hiking

Now what?

Happy training,

Allie

A dark brown dog sitting next to a door.

What’s Going Wrong with Your Bell Training

Posted on by Allie Bender

What’s Going Wrong with Your Bell Training?

A dark brown dog sitting next to a door.

Let’s talk bell training. Bell training is a popular tool for house training in which we teach a dog to ring a bell attached to a door so that he can ask to go outside. You may have seen various versions of dog doorbells, such as the photos below.

A puppy sitting next to metal bells strung on a flat line hanging from a door handle.
Dog door bells: metal jingly bells.
A dog pressing an electronic button with its paw.
Electronic version of a dog doorbell.

You can see our recommended set here.

Disclosure: This is an affiliate link. We receive a small commission for purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you. This helps us continue to put out free content to help you and your pets live more harmoniously!

They can be a great tool, but we hear a pretty common complaint about them.

“He still hasn’t figured out how to ring the bell when he wants to go out!”

When I hear this, my response is to ask the person to explain or show me how they’ve been training it thus far. The accounts are all very similar, and I can’t remember one that didn’t fall into one of the following categories:

  1. The person rang the bell themselves, then let the dog outside
  2. The person rang the bell using the dog’s body (e.g.: took their paw and rang the bell with it, moved the bell to the dog’s nose to ring it, or other variations) then let them outside

In both of those scenarios, the problem is that we didn’t actually teach the dog how to ring the bell in the first place. Even if the association has been made that ringing = outside, the dog may still not know that he’s capable of making the bell ring. The person always made the bell ring.

One way that I like to explain this issue is using an example of kids’ homework. If we were to do our kids’ homework for them, then the end behavior is complete (i.e.: homework is completed), but the child didn’t actually learn how to do the behavior themselves (i.e.: whatever the homework exercises were). Come test time, the child won’t be able to replicate the exercises from the homework because they didn’t actually do it; we did. We need to teach an individual how to complete the behavior themselves if we want them to do it by themselves in the future. We need to stop doing our dog’s bell training homework for them. 

Training Troubles?

Run out of ideas for wiping Fiona’s fuzzy paws without being bitten when she comes in from the snow?

Haven’t quite nailed down your plan for keeping Elmer out of the potted plants?

At your wit’s end with Maisy barking at delivery people as if they’re serial killers?

Our team has tackled all of this and more! At Pet Harmony, we aim to meet your needs and the needs of your pet while we achieve your goals. If you need someone to help you to craft a plan that works for you, your household, and your schedule, let’s talk!

Click here for relief!

What should we do instead?

The answer here should be obvious now: teach them how to ring the bell! When starting off with bell training this is the first thing that I do; I then teach the ringing = outside association later. One way that you can teach this (there are multiples!) is:

  1. Starting a few feet from the door, hold the bell near the dog’s nose (it’s easier to ring the bell when it’s not against the door). If they are apt to investigate, great! If they’re not, rub a smelly treat on it to entice them. 
  2. When the dog touches the bell with their nose (or simply moves closer to the bell), mark then treat. Repeat.
  3. Mark then treat for gradually louder bell ringings. Remember that you’ll need to hear this from across the house! Repeat until your dog is consistently ringing the bell at the desired volume. 
  4. Put the bell on the door and repeat steps 2-3 until he can ring the bell at the desired volume while it’s on the door. 
  5. Get the dog suited up to go outside if needed (e.g..: leashed if you don’t have a fenced-in yard). Bring him to the door. When the dog rings the bell, open the door and toss the treat outside. Let him go out to eat, bring him back in, and repeat. 

Happy training!

Allie

Now What?

If you have a dog who you’ve been trying to bell train, go through the above steps!

Still struggling? Let us help you. Schedule a free 15-minute discovery call. 

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Results are not guaranteed because behavior, human, canine, or otherwise, are not guaranteeable.

Bridging the Gap Between Training Sessions & Real Life

Posted on by Allie Bender

I told you last week that behavior challenges come in waves, and I’ve been hearing this one quite a bit this past week:

“He’s great in training sessions, but won’t do it in real life situations.”

Show of hands, how many of y’all have been here before? Yep, me too. The hard thing is that this is often when people STOP training. At this stage, you’ve already invested time, energy, and sometimes money into getting your pet to this level. And they’re still not where you need them to be. It’s frustrating. It’s disheartening. And it feels like training doesn’t work.

But! All that this means is that you haven’t completed the learning process. You’re only halfway through at this stage. I talked about this last year in a post called “Why You Should Care About the Stages of Learning”. Today, though, I want to share another aspect of what’s going on when your pet can perform a behavior in a training session but not yet in real life. 

Let’s Talk Antecedents

Terminology alert: antecedents. [Immediate] Antecedents are those cues that tell an individual that a particular behavior-consequence contingency is available. Whoa. Too technical. Let’s break that down further…

There are different ways in which we learn. One of those ways is through the past consequences to our actions. This is often what we think of when we think of animal training. If the dog sits he gets a cookie. If the cat jumps on the counter he gets sprayed with water (just an example, we don’t recommend doing this). These are behavior-consequence contingencies. “If I do x, then y often happens”

Specific behavior-consequence contingencies aren’t always available. The antecedent tells the individual if it is or isn’t. For example, when I was little I burned my fingers while on a camping trip by picking up a grate that had been in a recently doused fire. You better believe that I learned that particular consequence that touching a hot grate hurt like heck in that single-learning event and have since avoided doing that. That’s only true, though, when the antecedent is: the grate was recently in a fire. When the antecedent is different, I pick up the grate without a second thought because that painful behavior-consequence contingency isn’t there. The antecedent tells me an important part of the puzzle as far as what I should expect the consequence to be. 

What’s included in the antecedent?

Hoo boy, a bunch of things. While a lot of times you’ll hear the antecedent being referred to as simply the cue (eg: saying “sit”), really it’s the entire picture. This is often why your pet can perform a behavior in a training session but not the very different picture that real-life situations provide. Let’s illustrate that with an actual picture of me working with one of my favorite cats in the whole wide world: Grey. 

Photo by Molly Wald

From this one picture, we can see a lot of factors included in that antecedent picture that told him this was a training session:

  • Location: we always trained together in his cattery
  • Position: I always sat while we worked together
  • Presence of food & a clicker: clicker in hand, jar of baby food next to me
  • Handler: our interactions together were always training interactions (teacher’s here; we’re going to learn new stuff!)

All of these factors told Grey that this was a training session and that there was a lot of opportunity for treats depending on his behavior. Change any of those factors and his behavior is also likely to change. 

In short: your pet knows when it’s a training session and when it isn’t.

Why does it matter if it’s a training session?

There are two main reasons why I see this being an important distinction with my clients’ pets: 

  1. The behavior-consequence contingency is different in training sessions vs. real life
  2. For pets with anxiety-related behaviors, training sessions aren’t always scary and real life often is

Let’s look at that first one.

The behavior-consequence contingency is different

Since we follow the 4 E’s of effective, ethical, efficient, and empowering training, I’m going to talk about this point in relation to treats vs. no treats, but know that this is true for other training or management tools too (eg: this is why dogs who walk politely on a prong collar usually don’t when the collar isn’t on). Treats happen quite a bit in training sessions. For many households though, treats don’t happen frequently when the humans aren’t in “training mode”. 

In short: training session = possibility of treats, real life = no possibility of treats

Here’s where many people ask, “But shouldn’t they do it anyway even if there are no treats?” Here’s the thing. All behavior serves a function to the individual performing it. Period. End of story. That’s the reason that we stop going to work if we stop getting paid. Now, we don’t necessarily need to treat every time (a conversation for another time), but we can’t completely get rid of our behavior-consequence contingency. You’ve likely already experienced what happens when we do. 

For pets with anxiety-related behaviors, training sessions aren’t always scary and real life often is

I see this a lot when I’m working with clients whose pets have stranger danger and we’ve started working on the doorbell. The pet will sometimes learn very quickly that doorbells are safe when played during a training session. However, that usually doesn’t immediately translate to doorbells being safe when they happen in real life. No one comes in the door during a training session but they do in real life. We need to do more work for that translation to take hold by continuing through the stages of learning. 

How can I bridge the gap between training sessions and real life situations?

It’s a matter of proofing! Proofing, or generalization, is a necessary step in the stages of learning. To bridge the gap, we need to work on the same behavior in situations where the antecedent picture gradually morphs from “training” to “real life”. Factors can include:

  • Your attention (is it on the dog or on regular tasks?)
  • Where your treats are
  • Location
  • Distraction-level
  • Other household pets being present

And so many more! Many pets have excellent attention to detail; never assume that a small factor can’t make a difference. 

Now what?

  • Choose one situation in which your pet does great while training, but hasn’t yet generalized the behavior to real-life situations.
  • Determine all the factors that you can think of that make the training session different from the real-life situation.
  • Choose one of those factors and incorporate that change into your training session. Only pick one at a time!
  • When your pet is successful with the previous step, choose one more factor to integrate. Repeat in this fashion. 
  • If you’re struggling with how to do this, you’re not alone! This is a large reason why trainers & behavior consultants exist; we have experience breaking down those factors and strategically incorporating them. Email us at info@petharmonytraining.com to set up a session so we can help you!

Happy training!

Allie

Pet Behavior During & After the Pandemic

Posted on by Allie Bender

It’s been hard to write this post. Heck, I’ll admit that I didn’t want to and wasn’t planning to, but have gotten requests from some of you and feel a sense of obligation to our readers and clients who are searching for information. We try to be a pretty upbeat, positive company but the reality is that we’re scared, too. We’re not sure of all the effects that this pandemic will have in the years to come. And it’s hard for all of us, ourselves included, to be at our best when we’re struggling to make sure that our most basic needs are being met. Often I can use writing and focusing on other projects as a way to step out of reality, even just for a moment. And, because of that, I often avoid writing about things that are still quite fresh and heavy on my heart: like this post. The one that I knew I would eventually have to write. The one that I know that you guys are looking for. 

I suppose this is all to say that this article isn’t meant to be a comprehensive guide to your pet’s behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. We, like you, are still learning what the ramifications are and how this impacts animal behavior. There are things we may be wrong about. There may be experts who disagree with something here. There are things that we may say later that contradict something written today. That’s okay. Part of the beauty of a learning journey is being vulnerable and honest throughout, and admitting when we’ve learned something that is different to what we used to think. And, I’ll be frank in saying that this will be one of the more candid posts you read from me (as you can already surmise). It’s just plain hard for me to be eloquent and concise at the moment. But, I’m allowing myself some grace in the name of helping pets, and I hope you can do the same. So, without further ado and with no more disclaimers, I bring you Pet Harmony’s take on pet behavior during the 2020 pandemic. Buckle up; it’s a long one.

Photo by Ian Battaglia on Unsplash

What we’ve been seeing

Emily and I joke that behavior challenges come in waves. Sometimes it makes sense as to why that happens, like when we suddenly get a burst of leash reactivity cases every spring. Or why we sometimes see a surge of stranger danger cases right after Thanksgiving leading into Christmas. But other times there doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason. Just a few months ago it seemed like the only new cases I was getting were dog and kid cases; but I digress. This pandemic has brought forth a few behavior challenges that we’re getting many requests for, including:

  • Reactivity (on leash and behind a barrier)
  • Intraspecies aggression with housemates
  • General anxiety (especially regressions)

These make a whole lot of sense and, you’ll notice, that these are all anxiety-related behaviors. So why would we expect to see an increase in anxiety-related behaviors right now? A few reasons:

  • Change in routine. Individuals with anxiety do quite well with routines; they can help to lessen stress. It’s quite common to see individuals who experience anxiety normally to have regressions in their otherwise improved coping skills when their routine is disrupted. Like, say, when their humans are now home 24/7 and schedules are complete anarchy. 
  • Less nap time. I have spoken with a number of clients, and my husband, about how pets who don’t get enough sleep can wind up like cranky toddlers, thus increasing agitation, reactivity, and anxiety. Oso had a hard time the first couple of weeks that we were home and I realized it was because he wasn’t napping as much throughout the day (us pesky humans wanting to cuddle him got in the way of that). 
  • More togetherness. This is along the same vein as routine changes and less nap time. I’m seeing an increase in clients asking for help with their pets suddenly not getting along in the house. Oftentimes, when I learn what their routine was before and after shelter-in-place procedures, I find that the animals are spending a lot more time together than they once did. We all need breaks from our housemates no matter how much we love them; especially when we’re with them 24/7. Many people are acutely feeling that fact right now.
  • Everyone and their dog, quite literally, is outside walking. I get it; I also try to get out and walk daily. But for pets who already have reactivity or anxiety from people passing by their house, yard, or while they’re on leash are now experiencing a lot more triggers than normal. And, not only are there more triggers, they’re far less predictable than they used to be. We used to know when the quieter walking times and areas were and people with reactive pets could gauge when and where it was better to walk to avoid stressors. It’s far harder than it used to be to do that. 
  • Some household triggers are increasing. If triggers outside increasing weren’t enough, there are plenty of pets out there whose fears are coming from inside the house. This can include things like noises, household members moving around or doing certain activities, and, for some of those newly adopted pets, fear of their new humans altogether. More triggers means more stress and more stress often manifests itself in anxiety-related behaviors.
  • Our stress adds to their stress. You’ve probably heard this adage before, that when we are stressed our pets become more stressed, too. It can be true! Dogs can even smell our stress hormones so it’s very hard to fake it with them. We’re all stressed right now. That can further lend itself to our pet’s new or exaggerated behaviors. 

What we expect to see

We’ve now been in this long enough that it appears the above are primarily where people are currently feeling friction. But what happens when the world resumes to some semblance of normality? There are two concerns that I’ve seen over and again: separation anxiety and puppy development. Let’s briefly explore both. 

Separation anxiety

I’ll confess, I have a pet peeve (well, more than one but this one is relevant to the topic). I’ve seen a lot of articles talking about “Preventing Separation Anxiety” and it frankly gets under my skin. Separation-related disorders are complex and there are several factors that are involved, including genetics and other contributing factors we have no control over. Prevention is not guaranteed and we shouldn’t be talking about it as if it is. Additionally, development of a separation-related problem is also not guaranteed and we shouldn’t be talking about that as if it is, either. We need to strike a balance. 

Experts in the field all seem to be speaking right now about their fear of a rise in separation-related disorders when people start leaving for work again. I’d be remiss if I didn’t pay attention to what they’re saying. It’s wholly possible that we will see many more separation-related cases in the future. There is certainly anecdotal evidence of pets having separation-related disorders crop up after their humans start a new job and their hours change.That will happen to some pets soon, unfortunately. 

That said, it’s still a complex issue and there are many, many factors involved, some of which scientists are just scratching the surface of (like epigenetics). I expect to see an uptick in these cases in the future, but I’m not concerned about every single pet out there. I am, certainly, concerned about pets who’ve shown inklings toward this in the past and those with general anxiety. If that’s your pet, let’s do something now to address it. If that’s not your pet, let’s keep it in the back of our minds but focus on other things. 

Puppy Development

Hoo boy there are a lot of new puppies out there! In addition to the wave of cases I’m currently seeing above, I’ve also gotten more requests for puppy sessions than I have in the past several months combined (to be fair, I don’t often get many puppy requests since aggression, reactivity, and anxiety are my passion, but still). The question that’s on everyone’s mind is: how will these puppies who are experiencing their critical socialization period during shelter-in-place behave when they’re older? I’m curious to know the answer, too. 

Puppies’ critical socialization period is from about 3-5 to 12-14 weeks. During this time they’re like sponges absorbing information about the world around them: the good, the bad, the familiar, and the dangerous. Learning continues throughout their entire lives, but the socialization window is over far before they reach mental maturity. So what will happen when we are limiting our own exposure to the world, and consequently theirs?

Honestly, I’m not quite sure. I can see it going a lot of different ways. An interesting thing about the critical socialization period is that it’s actually composed of two parts: one where they’re learning how to be a member of their species and the other where they’re learning about the rest of the world. While there’s a huge emphasis on socialization with other dogs in American culture, the truth is that by the time puppies enter our households at 8 weeks old they’re ending the period where they’re learning how to dog and entering the period where they’re learning how to live in a human world. The puppy should’ve already been meeting other dogs before they came to us (within the safety protocols for their health). So is it necessary for puppies to practice their social skills with other dogs after that first half of the socialization period? Absolutely. Is it necessary for them to learn how to keep their cool when seeing other dogs out in the world? Absolutely. Is it necessary for them to interact with a bunch of other dogs while they’re learning how to be in our world? Probably not. But we’ll certainly learn more as these pandemic puppies grow up.

The reason that I’m skeptical as to the claims that this will be terrible for puppy development is two-fold. One: people have more opportunities to interact with their puppies, to build relationships with them, to teach them how to interact with our human world, and to build their confidence and resiliency when they’re home all day with their puppies. Two: most other countries put far less emphasis on dog-dog interactions than the United States does, and they also have lower incidences of reactivity. When we put more of an emphasis on relationships with humans than other dogs, we see a difference in behavior. Maybe this won’t be the worst thing from the lens of dog-dog socialization.

Where I am more concerned is with these dogs having a harder time when folks go back to working in offices and when meeting other people. Specifically, I’m concerned that these puppies won’t learn how to cope with being alone, learn how to entertain themselves, and be properly socialized with people of all sorts of shapes, sizes, ages, genders, and ethnicities. The first is taught early on in day to day life and the latter often happens in puppy classes without the owners realizing it. New puppy owners will need to be more cognizant of working on these things; they are still quite possible to do even with social distancing. We’ll get into that in the next section.

Photo by Alvan Nee on Unsplash

What to work on now 

Alright. We’ve spoken about what’s currently happening and what may happen in the future. Let’s talk about what we can do right now for our pets. 

  1. Develop a new routine, including nap time and decompression time from housemates.
  2. Get window film. Seriously. If I had a dollar for every time a client thanked me for suggesting window film for their reactive pet I would be rich. It’s hard to yell at things out the window when you can’t see them (though, noises are still fair game). [P.S. That’s an  affiliate link. We receive a small commission for purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you. This helps us continue to put out free content to help you and your pets live more harmoniously!]
  3. Tweak your management plan to accommodate new or increasing triggers. What used to work might not work right now and that’s okay. Avoid triggers for now and your behavior consultant can help you modify the behavior later. 
  4. Build calming activities into your day. Things like calming music or background noises, aromatherapy, and massage are often calming to members of all species (but not all individuals!)
  5. If you haven’t already been dealing with separation-related behaviors, leave your house. Go for a walk without your dog; it will be just as beneficial in the long-run as going on a walk with him. Give him a stuffed Kong, food puzzle, or chewy when you leave so he gets to party while you’re away. 
  6. If you have already seen separation-related behaviors, start (or continue) working with a consultant now. I would also be rich if I had a dollar for every time someone told me, “I tried to do a bunch of suggestions that I found or heard and wish I’d started with a professional sooner.” Gimmicks are just that. They don’t work for every individual. Honest to goodness behavior modification done at a pace that doesn’t elicit anxiety will yield results far more efficiently and effectively than trying a bunch of gimmicks to see if they work. Now is the perfect time to work on separation anxiety with the help of your consultant. 
  7. Work on puppy socialization at home. I love Dr. Yin’s puppy checklist found here. Other great resources include those from Puppy Culture and Puppy Start Right. There are a whole heck of a lot of ways to build confidence and resilience in your puppy right from home. 
  8. Take your puppy out and about and teach them humans and dogs are great at a distance. Your puppy doesn’t need to meet someone to know that they’re alright! Simple things like playing, basic training, and treats falling from the sky can tell your puppy that great stuff happens with you when all those other people and dogs are around. You become more fun and others become less scary. Win-win!
  9. Focus on enrichment as a way to meet all of your pet’s needs. Building a solid enrichment plan can help with all of the above and more. We can help with this; more info below.

Now what?

  • Just as I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I’m giving myself some grace to not be at my best right now. I invite you to do the same. Focus on just one thing that you can do right now. When that feels manageable, add another if it makes sense to do so. 
  • When in doubt, increase management. We can modify behavior later. Right now just focus on the behavior not getting worse. 
  • Reach out to a behavior consultant if you need help developing a management plan and/or if you have the wherewithal to start on a behavior modification plan. Remote sessions are just as effective as in-person sessions with a seasoned consultant! 
  • Register for our FREE enrichment workshop: 5 Days to a More Effective Enrichment Strategy. We’ll give you tools to create a more effective plan efficiently and without breaking the bank. Register here: https://petharmonytraining.com/freeenrichmentworkshop

Happy training,

Allie

Will My Pet Grow Out of This?

Posted on by Allie Bender

A question, or topic, that comes up frequently when I meet with a new client who has a pet displaying aggression, anxiety, or fearful behavior is:

Will my pet grow out of this?

I would’ve gotten help sooner, but I thought that he’d grow out of it. 

Will this get better as he gets older? 

There are a lot of factors that contribute to an individual’s behavior, and age is one of them. However, it’s not usually the panacea that people are hoping for. The short answer is, if we’re talking about fear, anxiety, or aggression, then no. Your pet won’t grow out of it. 

How age impacts behavior

As I said, age is one of the many factors that influence behavior. No one can deny that puppies and kittens act differently than adults. Energy levels change as animals age. Sexual maturity elicits new behaviors. Mental maturation makes activities requiring self control easier. And adolescents– aka teenagers– of any species tend to be trying (it’s not their fault; their brains are in a difficult developmental stage!)

Age does impact things like attention span and self control. Behaviors such as exuberant greetings and picking up everything they can find do tend to get better with age (and regular training). Attention-seeking behaviors that we find annoying can get better or sometimes worse with age (but learning history is a huge factor happening alongside aging). Tolerance often decreases with age. Age *does* impact behavior. 

Puppy behavior Photo by Daniël Maas on Unsplash
We don’t call them “silly puppies” for nothing!

Why is the answer still “no”?

If age impacts behavior then why am I still saying that your pet won’t grow out of their aggression, anxiety, or fear? Well, the more-succinct answer is that these issues aren’t usually ones related to age. The times where age does play a role in those sorts of behaviors is during early fear periods (more info on those here) or as seniors, sadly often as sight and hearing diminish or as dementia takes hold. Essentially, when age is a factor in anxiety-related behaviors it’s when they’re quite young or quite old: not so much in between. 

I tell clients to think of it this way: if we were able to grow out of anxiety-related behaviors we wouldn’t need therapists. We wouldn’t routinely see commercials for anti-anxiety medication and antidepressants. Many of us would experience the world a whole lot differently. Sadly, we simply don’t grow out of mental health issues. (Wouldn’t that be amazing if we did, though?)

What factors do contribute to these behaviors?

There are many factors that contribute to aggression, anxiety, and fear: brain chemistry, stress hormones while they’re in utero, early nutrition, socialization periods (which ends sooner than many think!), learning history, and more. It’s not purely genetic nor is it all in how you raise them. Behavior expression is fascinatingly and wonderfully complex, and scientists have just begun skimming the surface of how nature and nurture influence one another to form the behavior we see in front of us. 

If my pet won’t grow out of these behaviors, what should I do?

My answer to this will come as no surprise to anyone who’s read our blog before; contact a qualified behavior professional to help you at the first sign of trouble. Behavior modification is not the same as basic manners training. It’s more complicated and it’s often counterintuitive from how we’ve been raised to think about learning and training. And, unfortunately, many things can exacerbate the behavior so that it’s worse by the time someone reaches out for help (which means the process takes longer). A qualified behavior professional can give you the tools to modify your pet’s behavior while keeping everyone safe and making sure it doesn’t get worse. 

Now what?

  • Do you have a pet who’s exhibiting aggressive tendencies, fear, or anxiety? Email us at info@petharmonytraining.com to schedule an appointment with a qualified consultant. 

Happy training!

Allie

Nuisance Behaviors? Try the Water Principle.

Posted on by Allie Bender

Warning: does not contain actual water.

Last week we revealed our April 2020 Training Challenge: Explore DIY Destructible [Trash] Toys. Check out our blog post with more info on that challenge here. In that post, I mentioned that this can be a great option for dogs who shred inappropriate items, like tissues, paper towels, bedding, etc. This week, I want to talk more about that concept– working with your pet’s natural behaviors– by first talking about martial arts.

The martial arts style of Hapkido follows three principles, one of them being the “Water Principle”. While that principle can have multiple meanings, one of them is that of water flowing down a hill. When the water reaches a rock, it flows around it. It’s easier to simply flow around the rock than to push against it

One of the things that we seem to forget when we bring animals into our homes is recognizing that they’re a different species with different needs. What’s natural and normal for them is not natural and normal for us, and vice versa. Many of the behaviors that we label as “nuisance behaviors” are really just a difference in what different species think of as “normal”. 

We ask a lot of our pets. We ask them to essentially abandon what is normal to them in order to live in our society in a way that we deem appropriate. Perhaps it’s time that we start to loosen the reins and allow some room for their natural behaviors, too. 

That can sound scary. It doesn’t have to be! We can work with our animals’ natural behaviors instead of asking them to change them: the Water Principle. It’s easier to give our pets items that they’re allowed to destroy instead of expecting them to never destroy things. It’s easier to provide chewies than to expect them to never chew. It’s easier to provide a digging pit than to tell them they’re never allowed to dig again. We can work with our pets’ natural behaviors instead of against them. We already do that by providing cats with scratching posts, so why can’t we do that with all the other natural behaviors as well?

One of my favorite ways to do this is by letting dogs jump to teach them not to jump on visitors. You had to read that sentence over a few times, right? It doesn’t seem like it could make sense. But it can! For young, high-energy dogs it’s often unrealistic to expect them to remain in a sit-stay or even just keep all four feet on the floor when guests come over. Even after quite a bit of training I see these dogs need to get in just that one jump, and then they can sit-stay like a pro. 

In these cases, I say, “let ‘em!” Let’s teach them to jump up to a hand target, away from the person, to get those couple of jumps in before asking them to remain on the floor. 

It looks like this:

Oso demonstrating a “jump to hand target” behavior.

The dog gets to jump, like they want, and the person doesn’t get jumped on, which is what we want. Win-wins like this happen when we work with our animal’s natural behaviors, instead of against them. Flowing around the proverbial rock just makes sense.  

Now what?

  • Think about the behaviors your pet does that you don’t like. Is there a way to let them perform those behaviors more appropriately? (Hint: almost always there is!)
  • Set up the environment to allow them to perform those behaviors in a more appropriate way (aka: management). Encourage them to choose the appropriate option by making it easy for them to do so and reinforce the heck out of that decision. 
  • Start training! Oso didn’t immediately jump up to the hand target when I first got him; he had to learn how. Ask your trainer or behavior consultant for help with this if needed!
  • How do you already apply the Water Principle to your pet’s behaviors? Tell us in the comments!

Happy training!

Allie

Dog enrichment ideas

April 2020 Training Challenge: Explore DIY Destructible Toys

Posted on by Allie Bender

We hope you’re all doing well and staying safe in this crazy time! I’m personally really excited about this month’s training challenge as it’s something that I recommend to clients all the time:

Explore DIY Destructible [Trash] Toys

Not only is this a simple and cheap activity, but it’s often great enrichment, too! Dogs were made to destroy and gut things. But, unfortunately for them, we humans don’t love that natural doggy behavior. We get upset when they destroy their toys. We get upset when they steal tissues and paper towels and shred them to pieces. We get even more upset when they destroy our furniture. 

Toys that we purposefully give to dogs to destroy serve a wonderful purpose. Our pets get to do what they were made to do and we don’t get upset with them for it. It’s a win-win! An even larger bonus is that when we allow our pets to express their natural behaviors in appropriate ways, they are less likely to express them in ways that we’ve deemed inappropriate. Yep, that means that you can curb that annoying stealing-tissues-and-playing-keep-away-before-your-dog-inevitably-shreds-it behavior by providing these sort of toys. 

I’m always looking for a cheaper way to provide enrichment for Oso (who LOVES shredding things), so while I’ll occasionally get him stuffed toys to de-stuff from clearance bins, our go-to’s are DIY trash toys. As the name suggests, I make them out of literal trash. Supplies include:

  • Newspaper
  • Toilet paper rolls
  • Paper towel rolls
  • Empty tissue boxes
  • Granola bar, cereal, and similar boxes
  • Take out beverage holders
  • Treats

Check out our video on how to put it all together here:

 

And here’s a video of Oso enjoying one of those creations:

 

 

It’s truly as simple as it sounds!

Now what?

  • Make some of your own destructible trash toys! Watch the above video for tips on how to make them. 
  • Give one to your dog and let them go to town! Watch your pup the first few times you’re giving them new items. While the majority of dogs will not ingest inedible items (especially if you’re not actively trying to get the item away from them), we want to double check to make sure they’re not ingesting them. A little bit of paper swallowed along with the treat isn’t a big deal but we don’t want them eating the whole thing!
  • Routinely provide your dog with these items for a couple of weeks. Do you notice any changes in their behavior? Tag us on Instagram @petharmonytraining with your findings, pics, and videos!
  • We frequently recommend these toys for dogs who have behavior issues- everything from demand barking and playful mouthing to anxiety and stress-related behaviors. Click here to work with one of our behavior consultants to learn how to use these toys to help your dog de-stress and incorporate them into your dog’s behavior modification plan! 

Happy training!

Allie