Dog Behavior Blog

Speak, Dog!

Recently, there was a report of investigators in Hungary decoding the meaning of some of the barks of dogs. The investigators recorded 6,000 barks from 14 Hungarian sheepdogs, under several different circumstances: barks for walks, barks for balls, barks for fights, barks for play, barks when the dog was alone and tied to a tree, and barks for strangers. Using a computer and digital analysis of the barks, the investigators found that their computer program could identify the barks to the proper meaning about 43 percent of the time, suggesting that this was a way to show that dogs had different barks for different contexts or meaning.

Those of us who are sensitive to our dogs are probably already convinced that we can understand the context of our dogs’ barks. I can certainly distinguish between the barks my dog makes when he hears a car in the driveway vs. the bark that he makes when he sees another dog. However, such judgments are subjective, and are not made with any scientific rigor. The study from Hungary, however, was carried out in a scientific manner, giving us scientific proof of what we might have suspected all along.

Dogs probably are capable of expressing more meaning in their barks than we have assumed. This is suggested by the studies of Slobodchikoff and his students with prairie dogs. Although prairie dogs are not dogs but are rodents, these studies suggest that other animals might have similar capabilities. Slobodchikoff’s studies have shown that prairie dogs have, in their alarm barks that they give when they see a predator, different “words” for different predators. For example, they have different alarm barks for coyotes vs. humans vs. domestic dogs vs. red-tailed hawks. Amazingly, they can distinguish between a German Shepherd, which looks like a coyote, and a real coyote, producing a domestic dog alarm bark for the Shepherd and a coyote alarm bark for the real coyote. The animals can also incorporate information into their alarm barks that describes the color, shape, and speed of travel of the predator. In their alarm barks for humans, they can describe the color of clothes that the humans are wearing.

If prairie dogs can perform such sophisticated analyses and incorporate a considerable amount of information into their alarm barks, it is very likely that dogs can do as well or better. The challenge is to come up with rigorous scientific methodology and experiments that test this possibility. I am very glad to see the Hungarian team tackling this issue.

--Con Slobodchikoff

Visual Versus Vocal Cues

One of the most fundamental issues relevant to the two-species gap of dogs and humans concerns each species’ preferred modality of communication. Dogs are watching us and we are talking to them. They can’t figure out what our bodies are trying to convey and we can’t figure out why our dogs aren’t listening to us. The simple fact is that humans choose to use vocal communication the most whereas our dogs communicate primarily with visual signals. This difference in how the two species communicate can cause big problems. This explains so much of the confusion between these otherwise largely compatible species.

It is common for dogs to pick up on any visual cue that we use, inadvertently or not, when training them. So, if, during training, we raise our hand up while saying, “Sit,” most dogs will learn that the hand gesture means to put their bottom on the ground long before they figure out that the word, “Sit” means to do the same thing. As long as we are aware that the visual signal overshadows the vocal cue, problems can be avoided. We can teach our dog to sit to both cues together and then actively teach the vocal cue once the visual one means something to our dogs.

The key is in the timing. Begin by teaching your dog to perform an action (such as sit) using both the vocal and the visual cues you want your dog to know. Once he responds to them together, start separating them. Give the verbal cue “Sit” a half a second before you give the visual cue, such as a raised hand gesture. After many repetitions of sitting and getting reinforced for doing so, your dog will learn that the word “Sit” predicts the hand gesture that means to put his bottom on the ground. He will eventually respond to the vocal cue alone by sitting.

All the research suggests that dogs learn visual signals faster than vocal signals. Therefore, it is most likely that if your dog is sitting when presented with both cues, he already knows the visual cue on its own. To check for sure, you can experiment by giving just the visual cue (hand gesture) to see if your dog sits. Many people have inadvertently done the reverse experiment in which they test their dog’s ability to respond to the vocal cue alone, and found that he does not. It is common for people to train a dog using both cues and then try to show off to a friend or neighbor that our dog knows how to sit when asked with just the vocal cue. Something about showing what our dogs know seems to make many of us inhibited about using a lot of motion, and we choose just to speak instead, with the result that a dog who knows how to sit appears to have no idea what is being asked of him.

There is a flip side to dogs attending to visual signals and humans attending to vocal cues. By training our dogs to both types of cues, we have a useful redundancy in our communication. When we are on the phone, it is simple to tell our dogs to lie down and stay without interrupting our conversation or letting the person on the other end of the line know we are not completely focused on the talk, because the other person can’t see us telling our dog what to do. Also by giving our dog a subtle visual cue such as a head bob that means, “Go to bed” we can conversationally say to our dog, “Would you like to go to sleep now. You look tired. You’ll feel better after a good long rest.” When the dog trots off to bed in response to the head bob cue, anybody there may wonder just how much our dog does understand of what was said since most humans will be so tuned in to the vocal cue that they will not notice the subtle visual cue.

--Karen B. London

How To Keep Your Dog From Pulling On The Leash

Pulling on the leash is an extremely common problem. When dogs feel that something is pulling or pushing on their neck or chest, their instinctive response is to surge forward. The dog’s person then tends to pull back on the leash, increasing the constriction, and motivating the dog to redouble her efforts in surging forward. This leads to a tugging contest, and the winner is determined by their size and willpower. Quite often, the dog wins.

Needless to say, being dragged for a walk is not a pleasant scenario for the dog’s person. All control of the dog might be lost, and this can lead to a dangerous situation if the dog spots something that interests her in the distance and drags her person (and herself) out into a busy street, or lunges at another dog or another person.

There are four ways to solve this problem, and each way has its positive and negative aspects.

The first way is to change direction as the dog surges forward. When the dog moves forward, you can say “Heel,” pivot on one foot and start walking in the opposite direction. The leash tugs the dog backward, forcing her to turn and start walking behind you. As she catches up to you and walks at your side, you can say “ Good Dog!” in a happy voice, to reinforce the desired behavior. If she surges past you and starts to pull ahead of you, you can pivot again and once again walk in the opposite direction, again saying “Good Dog!” when the dog catches up to you.

The positive aspect of this is that the dog will learn fairly quickly in that session that she should walk next to you and not pull. However, a number of sessions might be required to teach the dog to consistently walk at your side. The negative aspect is that the pivoting move has to be done gently, so as not to hurt the dog’s neck or chest by pulling really hard when the turn is made. Also, if your dog weighs more than you do, or is stronger than you, this tactic might not work, and you might end up being dragged backwards.

The second way is to simply stop when the dog surges forward, and wait, not moving, until the dog comes back to you. Only then do you move forward again, praising the dog. Depending on how quickly your dog is able to learn, this often can be a series of stops and starts, with relatively little progress in a forward direction

The positive aspect of this is that it is a much more gentle way to get your dog to learn to walk next to you. The negative aspect is that it requires a considerable amount of patience and many, many repetitions, so someone who has limited time available for a walk might find themselves frustrated by the progress. Also, as with the first way, if your dog is stronger than you, this tactic probably will not work.

The third way is to use either clicker training or voice training to reinforce the dog’s behavior when she is walking next to you. The idea here is that the dog gets rewarded for the correct behavior, and receives no reinforcement for any other behavior, such as pulling on the leash. This relies on the principles of operant conditioning to teach the dog the correct behavior.

The positive aspect is that this is a very gentle way of teaching your dog. The negative aspects are that it requires an infinite amount of patience and a superb sense of timing to know when to reinforce the correct behavior. Even the delay of a second or more might result in reinforcing the wrong behavior. A large number of training sessions might be required before the dog learns the correct behavior.

The fourth way is that use a head collar such as a Gentle Leader®. This is a collar that fits over the nose of the dog, and the leash attaches to a snap underneath the dog’s jaw. As the dog surges forward, the leash gently pulls the dog’s head downward, causing the dog to stop moving forward so rapidly. As the name implies, it requires very little pulling on your part to get the dog to stop surging forward.

The positive aspect is that the head collar can be used to control the forward motion of most dogs, including very large and powerful ones who might normally drag their person without a second thought. The negative aspects are that the collar has to be put on correctly for it to work right (the back strap has to be tight, so that it is difficult to insert a finger between the back strap and the dog’s neck), the head collar might not work with dogs with very short muzzles, and the collar is sometimes perceived by others as a muzzle. This latter aspect is becoming less important as more and more dog trainers are recommending Gentle Leaders®, and the head collars are becoming more of a common sight on dogs.

The basic ingredients for getting your dog to not pull on the leash are practice, patience, and praise. And, as with all behavioral issues, if you think that there is any danger to you, your dog, or other people, you should seek out a behavior professional who uses positive reinforcement methods of behavioral training.

--Con Slobodchikoff

Destructive Chewing

Destructive chewing is common problem, especially in young and adolescent dogs of certain breeds. Most commonly herding and hunting dogs get into real trouble with chewing, but I have an aunt whose Great Dane actually ATE her couch and a client whose Chihuahua damaged an entire wall in 20 minutes, so it can happen with any dog. Handling destructive chewing involves a combination of tactics: Dog proofing the house, confining the dog to certain areas only, minimizing boredom and providing appropriate outlets for chewing.

Dog proofing the house is important both for the safety of the dog and the safety of the house. Preventing the dog from chewing goes a long way towards helping her develop better behavior and giving up old habits. Dog proofing includes, but is not limited to, keeping items that could be chewed such as shoes, plants, children’s toys and electric cords out of reach. Remember to keep food off of counters, remote controls off the sofa, and anything leather such as gloves and purses in drawers. Using baby locks on drawers and cabinets will help keep many dogs away from valuable or dangerous items. Deterrent sprays, especially those with a citrus scent (which many dogs find repulsive) may help keep dogs away from items that cannot be kept out of reach like table legs and rugs.

Confining dogs to certain, puppy-proofed areas only can help keep destructive chewing under control. Dogs can be confined in a small room such as a laundry room or bathroom, in a garage if the temperature is not too extreme, or in a crate that is big enough so that the dog can stand up and turn around. Eventually, it is a good goal to have the dog be able to handle more freedom in the house, but it is wise to confine a dog temporarily until she is old enough, mature enough, and well-trained enough to handle that freedom. Of course, she must have ample time out of confinement to exercise and have fun.

Many dogs chew out of boredom, so the more exciting a dog’s life is, the less likely she is to chew. (Some dogs will chew no matter what, but some only do it when they have too little going on in their lives.)  I had a Lab mix who only ever destroyed one item in my home - some wooden salad tongs - and that was during gun hunting season. Because of safety issues, our exercise was severely limited for that 10-day period each year. Instead of two 30-minute or more romps in the woods off leash around our 150-acre farm each day, he was getting a couple of short walks down the road on his leash.

To enhance any dog’s life, the formula is lots of physical exercise such as walks, runs, swimming or play, lots of mental exercise in the form of adventures to new places, training classes or learning new tricks, and not feeding the dog in a bowl. It is very interesting to dogs to have to find their food scattered all over the house or the yard, or to have to extract it from Kongs, Goodie Balls, Buster Cubes or Roll-a-Treat balls.

Providing appropriate items for the dog to chew on is essential because so many dogs have such a strong natural drive to chew. Chewing itself is not a problem, but chewing on inappropriate things is a problem. Dogs need to have access to things that they can chew on such as bones, Kongs, rawhides, Booda Velvets, Nylabones, and Greenies. Check with a veterinarian in each case to determine which chew items are appropriate for each dog, and which of those items require supervision while the dog is chewing it.

--Karen B. London