Before Lil’ Big Head stole my heart, his rescuers found him tied to a stake outside and shot with a BB gun. I can only guess that his trembling and flattening onto the sidewalk like a buttery pancake the first few months he lived with me were due to a pretty tragic past.

I worked hard to teach Gavin that he could trust me to protect him from all the scary sounds of the city, and he’s been bouncing through my neighborhood for almost three years now. If you read my blog a couple of weeks ago, you know Gavin’s ABSOLUTE TERROR when he hears a jet zooming through the sky has rebounded. When you share your life with a cowering canine, you know the acute repercussions that one surprise SCREECH from a garbage truck or the grumble of a low flying airplane can have on your beloved dog.

When the world is too ghastly to bear—dogs like Gavin refuse treats, and petting doesn’t soothe SOME pups. What a shaken dog wants MORE than anything is to GET AWAY from whatever is causing his misery at the moment.

Why not use escape as a reward?

If you flee with your ‘fraidy fido at JUST the right time, you’ll find that your pup will begin to offer more brave acts and, most of all, that he can depend on you. The latter will remind your dog that you’re a team and his champion. It does take a bit of finesse to use fleeing instead of treats. If your dog starts trembling or pees an ocean, you’re moving way too fast.

Every little bit counts

I worked with an amazingly sweet lab mix. I’ll call him Bubba. His fear of going on walks was so profound that when we first started working together if I put my hand on his leash (forget about clasping the leash to his collar), he peed SO MUCH on the rug that I thought we might have to call in an expert to name a new lake.

So, I got the leash out before I asked him to army crawl out from under the bed, another big boy skill he worked hard to learn. And I sat with the leash behind me and moved my hand an inch or two towards it. If Bubba didn’t pant or turn his head, I said “yes” and rewarded him.

I watched Bubba CLOSELY, to make sure he wasn’t even close to running away, crouching, or flattening his ears. After a few repetitions, not 10 or 20, of super-plucky-pooch-behavior (for him)—I made a big deal about the leash going away. I wanted Bubba to know that I wouldn’t push him—that I saw how hard he worked and how difficult that task was for him. And with patience and practice, when Bubba saw me grab the leash, he ZOOMED around the living room—SO PROUD of himself.

Don’t be a pusher

When you have a dog who’s behavioral response is so intense that he stops moving and his panic-stricken eyes rip your soul to shreds—especially in areas where you have no control over petrifying triggers—you build courage by working on the behavior in a safe environment, in tiny doses. And compassion is critical. During your ten-minute training sessions, your pup needs to understand he’s out of danger. Humans LOVE to push, we do.

Your goal when you’re training with scary stimuli is to end the session with your dog WANTING more. Playing an airplane sound on YouTube at the lowest volume possible may not feel like much to you. But, it’s a CRAZY big deal for some dogs. And unfortunately, right now, when you go back out into the unpredictable world, those same triggers will still cause emotional havoc for your fur babe. Teaching bravery takes time.

Real-life applications

In the real world, escape is an amazingly powerful reward. Gavin and I’ve been darting all over Albany Park. The key to doing this correctly is, first and foremost, DON’T race away from the wicked fire engine when your dog has frozen in his tracks and is looking around at anything, except you. If your dog’s fear has caused all physical capabilities to stop completely—he could get hurt if you try to cross the finish line to safety briskly.

I know that the sound of dogs barking from inside their house is a source of stress for Gavin right now. So, if I hear a dog yapping and take a glance at Gavin to make sure he is still relaxed, chill, even happy, I say “hurry,” and we run past their house. My sweet Lil’ Big Head flies with me when I say this, and he smiles his charming, googley eyed grin, because I gave him exactly what he wanted and needed, space from what scares him.

Did you notice I didn’t say that I KNOW he heard the dog barking? He’s a dog, he heard it before I did.

Patience pays off

Is Gavin completely cured? No. But with every “what’s that” and treat when I can catch unnerving noises early enough, pause when he really needs it, and moving faster past howling-hound-houses, we’ve made great strides in the past few weeks. And Lil’ Big Head trusts me when it matters most.

******Don’t use this technique with an aggressive dog in a highly populated neighborhood or busy day. Running gets dogs charged up. If your dog is already leash reactive, moving quickly is going get him more fired up. An over-aroused dog who then sees a trigger that under normal circumstances causes lunging, barking, or growling is a BAD combination. ******

Have you ever had one of those days where you spill coffee on yourself as you race out the door, then, JUST as you notice the giant dent on your rear bumper that was not there last evening when you parked; you feel a SQUISH under your favorite pair of boots that you know has to be dog poop? Sounds a bit overwhelming, doesn’t it? Would you be able to answer a text at the moment you were trying to compose yourself, clean off your shoe and prioritize what you need to do that said, “Can I pick your brain for a second?” Likely not. What if spiders were falling from the sky while all of this was happening; would you be capable of learning ANYTHING new?

While this is not a scenario that would happen to our dogs, we do often put them in VERY overwhelming, quick-happening, stressful situations, like the above; often intensely fear-inducing. Then, we get frustrated because they are not sitting at every street corner. Here’s how you can tell if your dog is “Over It” and how to help him or her.

Dogs can lose their learning capability for a few reasons. Two common causes are THERE IS JUST SO MUCH GOING ON and overwhelming fear. Squirrels, kids running to school, ambulances, commuters racing to the train, other dogs across and down the street; the smells, sights and sounds of all the stimulating happenings can be a lot for dogs to take in. And, often they stop in their tracks, grab the leash out of frustration or simply charge ahead. There is so much to see after all.

But, dogs who are nervous around scooters, the wind or some other stimuli that you have seen him or her jump or run away from, can completely shut down. Literally, they become helpless as they plant themselves on the sidewalk because they can not take anymore. Folks often think their dog is being stubborn when he or she is turning their head away in response to a cue. But, when we see that, we know the poor creature is offering every attempt to avoid a conflict with an involuntary calming signal.

How to help. The easiest thing to do to help a dog that just CAN NOT focus because he or she is too overstimulated or terrified of so many scary monsters coming at them is to carry better treats. Sometimes, when we go outside with a client for the first time, we see a dog’s eyes light up just by using gooey, smelly, high value treats. Biscuits have little smell so they can not compete with the swarm of distractions, including listening to you.

We also find that by adding a fun game or practicing a trick before walks and doing obedience in the house when your dog is not keyed up can make a big impact. If you are only training when your pup is in an aroused, agitated, smell-a-palooza state of mind; not only will your training not succeed, but you could easily damage the bond between you and your four-legged bestie. If you are doing all of the above and your pup just WILL NOT LISTEN, go back home. Your dog does not think he or she is winning by doing so, but, you are giving both yourself and your pup a reset. By continuing to walk when your dog is trying to climb a tree and ignoring “leave it” , wait, that’s not your dog’s favorite activity too? You are reinforcing your dog for ignoring you; and likely, pulling as well.

I recently had to take away Gavin’s FAVORITE game in the world, climbing trees. My sweet little monkey turned into a frenetic, pent-up punk on our walks because I was trying to prevent him from breaking or knocking out another tooth; my savvy with HOW we chased trees was not as great as I thought it was. So, to prevent both of us from getting extremely frustrated; I kept his walks very short and more frequent. And, we always did something that allowed him to get out some serious wiggles before, after or during our walk like: jumping over my legs (please keep your dog’s age and mobility in mind with any jumping game), playing fetch at the tennis courts or killing a squeaky toy when we came home. It made a big difference in his behavior while he was learning and prevented him from becoming completely over it on walks and, with me.

“Hannibal Lector”, “Cujo” or my least favorite, “how dare you have that vicious beast out of the house?” while glaring at the person holding the leash. I have heard all those mutterings, and more, when working outside with a client and their muzzled dog.

Muzzles prevent bites, it is that simple. If your dog has bitten another dog, chomped on a human being or nailed you while in an aggressive frenzy; and you live in an environment where basic functions require him or her to pass others, a muzzle prevents you from being reported for another bite. Or worse, having your dog taken from your home. Tight spaces like condominiums where potty breaks require an elevator ride; or neighborhoods like Lakeview and River North where every parkway is fenced off and allows for no escape, this is even more crucial.

You must train your dog to like the muzzle. Before I met this sweet girl; her parents spent extensive time conditioning her to love wearing her muzzle. She only has sad puppy eyes and flat ears because she really dislikes her photo being taken. It is unfair to just slap a muzzle on a dog’s face, race out the door for walk and expect your dog not make every effort to get the stupid gag off their face. The better the treat, the faster your dog will love the muzzle. The basket muzzle does not win any awards for aesthetics. But, it is the best choice for longer-term use like walks and when guests are visiting in the house. The mesh muzzle should ONLY be used for EXTREMELY short durations such as, walking into the groomer, as it restricts a dog’s ability to pant and drink water which can cause your pooch to VERY quickly overheat. VERY dangerous.

Muzzles do not replace training. Let’s say your dog hates other dogs; putting a muzzle on his or her face will only prevent you from being responsible for another dog’s injury. You still have to spend time training your dog to accept other dogs at a distance and teach incompatible behaviors so you are not holding onto a lunging, growling dog who is still exhibiting serious behavioral issues. Behavior modification changes a dog’s innate emotional responses to negative stimuli, alters the choices aggressive dogs make in precarious situations and helps to guide your furry, biting friend to look to you when faced with triggers that cause aggression. Muzzles do not alter the underlying reasons dogs exhibit unwanted behaviors. Keep up or start training. Pronto.

A muzzle does not give you a free pass to put your dog in stressful situations that would normally cause him or her to bite. This is a big one, especially in the city. If your dog needs to wear a muzzle because he has bitten a child, please, do not let kids pet him. He or she should not be running around a dog park wearing a muzzle either. If your dog hates dogs so much that he has to wear a muzzle to be around them; he is miserable at a dog park. Just because it is impossible for him to sink his teeth into another dog does not mean his behavior will not continue to deteriorate.

Be your dog’s advocate. I was out working with a client and her 90+ pound muzzled dog who’s responses to her when stressed are pretty stellar. But, he is not a big fan of children. As he was rocking all of his exercises, a woman pulled up in an SUV a few feet from us. Before she turned around from removing her child from the car seat, her little girl was approaching us. I could tell by my client’s body language she was thinking the same thing I was, “is that tiny human really walking towards a muzzled dog who weighs twice what she weighs?” Then, we both said at the same time, “Ma’am, he does not want to say hi”. Muzzles are like signs, not everyone reads them. So, please be prepared to announce to the world (politely, of course) if your dog needs space from kids, dogs, strollers, whatever trigger that would cause a bite without the muzzle.

If you just rescued a dog and you are freaking out after reading this; do not rush out to buy a muzzle. There are PLENTY of ways you can observe and slowly introduce your new sweetie to the world and PREVENT a bite. Please, never muzzle a puppy. Teach that cutie pie, nipping-machine what you want him or her to chew on.  And, there are loads of dogs who would never need a muzzle, please don’t panic if you have well-socialized, friendly pooch. Just give a thumbs up to the folks who need muzzles, they are being responsible and we should all be grateful.

Positive dog training equals happy, well-behaved Chicago dogs.

This week, I was in a session with a lovely couple and their adorable puppy who’s wiggle-jiggle, butt-smacking wag matches her endearing personality. The husband asked me to review the chew toy exercise I showed them during our last appointment because they had not done much work with it. Gasp! Actually…I didn’t gasp because mom and dad had a few other behaviors that were much more important to them and their puppy’s development. And, guess what? Because sweet wiggle-worm’s parents REALLY focused on the most important behaviors with their puppy; we were able to briefly review some tweaks to those exercises to further their improvement then quickly move along to focus on chew toy training and leash walking.

Sometimes when we bring home a new puppy or decide it’s time to FINALLY train our 3-year-old bouncing, barking, lunging fur-baby; we can throw or “try” 18 new things on our pooches and do them poorly, haphazardly. At best, it confuses our dog and frustrates us; and, at worst, bad training and/or horrible timing can actually cause a dog’s behavior to more rapidly decline. I truly believe none of our readers want that for their beloved dogs.  Here’s a few tidbits to make sure you get with and stick to dog training, without bombarding your favorite furry friend.

Keep it simple. If you are struggling with mild leash reactivity or separation issues; behaviors that we know we need to very quickly improve for our pooches’ well-being and safety. I often see folks buy compression shirts, harnesses, music, medication, herbs, new leashes and different treats all on the same day.  While I understand the immediacy of wanting to help an anxious dog not be miserable alone and sometimes extreme behaviors require multiple simultaneous solutions; if we toss a plethora of solutions at the problem, how do we know which one actually worked? Start with better treats on walks or when alone. Even the most serious behavior problems I see in a first session that clients have been previously attempting to modify with biscuits or the same treats the pup has eaten for years, do better with amazing treats. Try a new treat first, THEN if progress is not quick enough, combine with another tool.

Stop “trying”, do it! Our dogs know when we really are not in the game with them. And, when our mental focus is on “trying” to help our dogs succeed, we are definitely not on their team. If we know our dog is TERRIFIED of people, our job is not to TRY to keep people away from coming at our pooch like Godzilla. Our role while strolling along with our canine best bud is to reward for any person coming at our pup so he learns that people are not so scary.  And, to silently repeat to ourselves over and over “if someone looks like they might be coming at my dog, I need to be prepared” so we are ready when it happens.

Less blah blah blah. I am frequently asked “what’s the command for that?” Unfortunately, the more we chatter to our dogs, especially when dealing with very troublesome behaviors, the less our words mean. Rather than putting a label that means absolutely nothing to our dog who pulls, let’s just say “yes” and reward when our dog stops. If we spend all our time rewarding pull, walk back to my side; we actually reward the series of behaviors but, we have to start at step one. And, that first stage is reward for the right choice. Once our pup gets the game, then only reward for not pulling at all, simple “yes” when our pooch stops pulling.

On Gavin’s first walk in my neighborhood, he truly resembled a pogo stick, shooting himself straight into the air and onto every single person who walked past us. One of the guys doing construction on our street tried to give me his card so he could help me train my dog, double gasp! I was a little mortified but it was our first walk together and my new buddy had no interest in even the best treats I had to offer. Now, he only jumps on 1 out of 20 people who lean in to pet him. Progress I accept because I had other priorities for him. But, now, NOT jumping is a priority for me and I intend for the process to be delightful for Gavin and I. As it should be. If we set our expectations too high or try too many things at the same time, we get overwhelmed, then our dog fails.

Wait, hold the phone. We told you eye contact was good but now it’s not? So confusing! Fido looking at his mom with soft eyes, a relaxed face and a giant grin; all super awesome. Fifi staring at the cat, frozen stance and a tense mouth; not good at all. There is no need for a pet dog to stare at anyone or anything with beady eyes. And, we have met quite a few canines who will growl, snap or bite if a person or another animal stares back at them. Here are a few ways to diffuse staring and keep your pooch safe, happy and a welcome member of society:

Even if your dog is crazy friendly, if you pass a person who clearly does not want their dog to say hello; it not enough just to pass by the dog. Keeping your dogs eyes on you vs. the reactive dog will prevent the neighborhood BarkFest from coming to your hood. Construction in Chicago is miserable enough.

Tight spaces like some obedience classes, veterinary waiting rooms and daycare entrances can be tricky and stressful for many dogs. Encouraging your dog to look at you AND not allow him to stare at other dogs can make your life and those around you easier. Do not be distracted by the cute dog to your right, keep your eyes on your dog and praise him for doing the same.

If you are introducing your rescue dog or puppy to a child or another animal for the first time; do not let him stare. The longer eyes are locked, the more quickly a negative situation can escalate. Using gates and other management tools are best and keep your distance until he or she are looking to you without too much work on either end of the leash. And no collar corrections, please. If your dog is super tense, yanking at their neck sure is not going to help him or her relax.

Perhaps looking at you is not possible for your dog, it is too much for him or her to handle around distractions. Back up on expectations and reward for glancing, not staring at the person, dog or squirrel.  If you need to cue it, say “what’s that?” and “yes” for a quick glance and you will find your dog starts to look up more at you than if you tried way too hard to get eye contact. And, never ever use food treats near another dog.  A nice distance is best.

Living with a dog means sometimes being out and about with the world, no matter how fabulous your backyard might be. We have to remember that there is a lot of communication going on at the end of our leashes. Even if we live with the nicest dog in the world, allowing him to stare can cause ruckus and potentially teach him to pick up others’ bad behaviors we would rather not see. Be a dear and do not let your dog stare.