BEHAVIOR AND TRAINING FOR FOSTER HOMES. Presented by: Hollie Gomila Behavior and Training Consultant

Transcription

1 BEHAVIOR AND TRAINING FOR FOSTER HOMES Presented by: Hollie Gomila Behavior and Training Consultant

2 WHY WORRY ABOUT BEHAVIOR AND TRAINING? Gives us insight on the right type of home for each dog Gives us an opportunity to remedy some behavior issues before the dog moves into a permanent home Can help prevent adoption returns Makes certain dogs more adoptable Helps dogs adjust to their foster home and eventually their forever home Sets an example for adopters and sets them up to succeed

3 HOW WILL WE TRAIN? We will use positive reinforcement to increase any behaviors that we like. We will use negative punishment to decrease any behaviors we would like to see less of (as long as the dog in not upset).

4 USING TIME-OUTS TO DECREASE BEHAVIOR

5 TIME-OUT PROCESS too bad! good boy!

6 TYPICAL BEHAVIOR CONCERNS House Manners Housetraining Reactivity Resource Guarding Separation Anxiety

7 HOUSE MANNERS Setting our fosters up to successfully live in a home.

8 HOW TO SHAPE HOUSE MANNERS Provide daily enrichment to prevent behavior issues Teach basic skills and impulse control Manage the environment to set the dog up to succeed

9 ENRICHMENT : to make rich or richer especially by the addition or increase of some desirable quality, attribute, or ingredient When talking about enrichment with dogs, we are typically referring to mental stimulation. Thirty minutes of mental stimulation can be more exhausting (for the dog) than a 5 mile run. A tired dog is a good dog! Types of enrichment: Environmental Novel sights, sounds, and smells Free dog interaction Work-to-Eat Training Food Toys Puzzle Games Dog Classes CLASS classes on Wednesday nights

10 BASIC SKILLS Sit Down Stay Leave-it Wait

11 C.L.A.S.S. CLASSES Canine Life And Social Skills

12 MANAGEMENT : manipulating the dog s environment to reduce instances of the dog making a wrong or harmful choice. Types of management: Crate Training Baby Gates Tethers Dog Proofing

13 SET THEM UP TO SUCCEED From day one, have your foster learn that there will be times that they will be alone. Take several short absences from the beginning. Provide exercise before absences. Provide your foster with stuffed Kongs, bully sticks, or other great things for them to consume each time that you leave. Put them in their kennel at different times during the day so that they don t only associate the kennel with long periods of being alone. Always provide a pacifier for kennel time. Teach them to LOVE their kennel. This can help them transfer successfully into their new homes. Place the kennel in a busy area of the house so that they aren t secluded when inside.

14 HOUSETRAINING

15 HOUSETRAINING May be necessary for puppies and adult dogs Strict management for early success Housetraining Protocol: Step 1: Strict supervision and management. Reward ALL instances of going outside with food rewards. Ignore accidents and tighten up management if they happen. Continue here for three weeks. Step 2: Loosen management but still supervise. Interrupt accidents as they happen and continue to reward for going outside. Eliminating is a self-reinforcing behavior. That means that each time your foster dog has an accident, he is rewarding himself for going in the home. We have to counter-act this by rewarding all elimination outdoors to make it better than going inside. Imagine that I give you $10 each time you sing karaoke at home, but $1000 each time you sing in public. Which one will you be more motivated to do? Be very careful about interrupting accidents too early in the process, and NEVER scold a dog for having an accident. Both of these can lead to reverse housetraining the dog will learn that it is unsafe to eliminate in your presence.

16 REACTIVITY Barking and lunging on walks Barking at strangers/visitors

17 FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE FOR LEASH REACTIVITY No-Pull Gear: Front-attaching Harness or Head Halter (both can be provided by LA/SPCA). NO prong, choke, or shock collars are to be used on LA/SPCA foster dogs at any time. Free Play with Other Dogs: If your foster dog is friendly and enjoys playing with other dogs, letting them have access to this on a regular basis can sometimes remedy the issue. This is highly recommended before adoption events to reduce reactivity to other dogs and increase prosocial behavior towards potential adopters. Mental Exercise: Before you go out on a walk, do 10 minutes or so of training, play tug or fetch, or give your foster a puzzle to work. Use food on your walks to help keep him focused. Dogs are always learning, so we should always be prepared to reinforce the behaviors that we like.

18 WHY ARE DOGS REACTIVE? Reactivity should be thought of as barking/lunging in response to a stimulus. Types of dog-dog reactivity: Barrier frustration Under-socialization Negative associations Fear Genetics Aversive techniques

19 ON-LEASH MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES Turn and Go Use this exercise any time you need to get out of dodge fast. When approached by an off-leash dog. When a dog (or other trigger) suddenly appears (from behind a blind corner, behind a fence, etc.) When training isn t an option because your dog is too upset. Begin walking forward with your leashed dog. After a few steps, turn away from your dog and begin moving in the other direction. Encourage your dog to follow you by luring him and happy-talking. When he does follow, be sure to reward him with a treat! Repeat this several times until your dog is consistently following you when you turn. Next, add the cue. Just before you turn, say Let s Go! If your dog doesn t follow you, prompt him with a food lure. Repeat this until your dog is consistently following you when you deliver the cue. Find It! Start off by practicing this exercise in the house with your dog off leash. Put about 10 treats in your hand. Say find it and toss a treat on the ground for your dog to find. Repeat until all the treats are gone. When you feel confident, put your dog on leash and bring him to a quiet outdoor location. Hold the leash in one hand and fill your other hand with treats. Say find it and then toss or bowl a treat in front of you on the ground for your dog to find. Keep tossing treats and moving forward while saying find it before every toss. Keep moving forward as you toss the treats the goal of this exercise is to get passed a distraction with your dog focused on the ground instead of on the distraction.

20 REACTIVITY TO NEW PEOPLE The first question that we want to ask ourselves is is the dog upset? In other words, is this dog unhappy to see this person or not? If no, we should teach the dog an alternative behavior to the barking (go to mat, targeting, crate, etc.) or use timeouts to eliminate it. If yes, we need to help the dog feel better about the presence of the person. If the dog is upset, follow the guidelines below: Interaction is ALWAYS on the dog s term. Allow him to escape and hide if he wants to. He should never be forced to interact with someone as this can worsen the fear. Have new people ignore the dog until he is more comfortable and asks for interaction. Provide high-value food rewards every time the dog sees/encounters a new person. New people = chicken. Once the dog is more comfortable, the treats can come from the new person. Remember to take things slowly. Fear is very easy to install and very, very difficult to erase. First impressions are the most important. Watch how the dog is reacting, and adjust the environment to help him feel safe if he is too afraid.

21 HAND TARGETING AND PASSIVE HAND Hand-targeting benefits: -can be used more easily in high stress situations -allows the dog to offer consent for interactions -build confidence in hand-shy dogs Passive-hand training: -the next step of touch for dogs that are uneasy with reaching about their heads. -teaches them that hands above the head mean good things

22 RESOURCE GUARDING Toys Food Forbidden Items Locations People

23 RESOURCE GUARDING SIGNS Stiff/Frozen Body Hard/Whale Eye Accelerated Consumption Hiding/Running away with Item Growl Snarl Snap

24 MANAGING RESOURCE GUARDING Feeding Separately Object Exchanges Teaching a Leave-It and Drop-It Rewards for dogs/people approaching Teaching an Off cue (for people or furniture) If your foster dog is not a resource guarder: If you have to take something away from him, give him something better in exchange. Do not ever force an item out of his mouth. If he doesn t want to give it up, use an object exchange.

25 SEPARATION ANXIETY

26 SIGNS OF SEPARATION ANXIETY Destructions at Exit Points Self Injury Escaping Kennel with Injury Vocalizing Anxiety during Departure Routines Anorexia when Alone If you believe that your foster dog has separation anxiety, please contact us right away. Dogs with separation anxiety are suffering.

27 TREATING SEPARATION ANXIETY Desensitization gradually increasing departures in a way that the dog shows no anxiety. This begins with desensitizing departure rituals and gradually works up to periods of absence. Never being alone for longer than he can handle this may involve pet sitters, altering schedules, doggy daycare, etc. Medication this will be under the discretion of the shelter clinic.

28

29 FOR FOSTER TRAINING SUPPORT: Copy: