Look What I Can Do! Blog

Only The Nose Knows! Enrichment For Your Dog. The Dog Trainers Dogs Blog

Recently, I have begun to introduce Nose Games into the curriculum of my dog training classes. Why? Well, dogs possess this most amazing organ that we seldom encourage them to employ for daily enrichment. Teaching our dogs how to search for treats and items by scent is truly enriching, and is a behavior that dogs engage in on a daily basis, being, well.....dogs!! When we teach and encourage behaviors dogs innately use, the scenario is win-win. How many Canine jobs can you think of where dogs are employed by virtue of their superior sense of smell? Here are but a few:

• Cancer detection
• Drug sniffing
• Bomb detection
• Seizure alert
• Search and Rescue
• School Weapon Detection
• Tracking fugitives
• Landmine detection
• Cadaver dogs

So many dogs with so many talents! Why not help the family dog make the most of their own olfactory organ? Nose Work and Nose Game workshops are springing up all around the country. Recently, myself and Bridget, Look What I Can Do! American Lab, attended a Nose Games Weekend at Pat Miller`s Peaceable Paws. As I has previously taught Bridget Go Find It, I had a pretty fair idea that she would excel at more advanced nose games, and this proved to be the case. We worked her hard, and gave her challenges she was up to, such as, with herself waiting out of sight, then  locating treats that were hidden in the wild mish mash of tackroom scents.

Pictured above, Bridget using scent to locate kibble that was hidden around the yard.

Recently I have had feedback from owners who participated in my classes, proud of how their own dogs had progressed, and happy to have another form of enrichment for their dogs.  From Judy Copple in Elkton MD :

"Spent the last 1/2 hour with Denali waiting in the kitchen while i was hiding treats in the living room and on command "go find" she would go find all the treats. We were able to go three rounds of this and she had enough! I was so so proud of her waiting in another room and being able to find the treats. Later today or tomorrow we will be working on Staying when she has a little bit more patience ;-)..Thanks Leslie once again...But yes to make it easy you do have to train the human first, before the animal lol..." 

And yes, Judy is absolutely correct by the way! Dog training is as much about helping the human learn new behaviors, as it is the dog! Following is a summary of the activities we participated in at Peaceable Paws.

• Go Find It: basic first step, toss treat a short distance as you cue Go Find It, click when dog arrives at treat, in plain sight.
• Wait/Go Find It: a bit more advanced, as dog waits, while you step away a short distance, and "hide" treats in plain sight, then returning, releasing and cueing Go Find It.
• Hide Treats/Dog Watching: slightly more challenge, with dog watching on Wait cue, while you hide treats behind or around nearby objects, returning and releasing with Go Find It cue, click as dog arrives at each treat.
• Hide Treats/Dog out of sight: the most challenging progression, with dog behind a barrier, as you leave and place treats hidden out of sight around a room, then returning to release dog. At this point it was delightful to see Bridget on an active olfactory search, using scent to locate the treats, forehead furrowed in concentration, nose to the ground, and snuffling away.
• Scent Discrimination:progression of  "finding" a treat in a single box, marking the box upon finding (for Bridget a paw touch), teaching "take scent" from gauze pad and release to find and mark box with treat, scent discriminate between two boxes with one empty, then scent discriminate between three boxes with two empty, correctly locating and marking the box with the treat in it.

This was a wonderful, challenging and invigorating weekend, learning alongside one of my own dogs. I hope you will be able to join me for classes at Rainwood Kennels in Elkton MD, as I introduce Nose Games into my own curriculum, with intent of beginning a Nose Games class in the fall. Stay posted at
my website as i enter the new dates here.  Look Go out there and have some fun!

Leslie Fisher PMCT CPDT-KA, AKC CGC Evaluator, ABC Student Mentor

Look What I Can Do! classes are conventiently located near Bear, Glasgow, Middletown and Newark De, as well as all of Cecil County, and into the Havre de Grace area of Harford County.

My Dog Won`t Play! The Dog Trainer`s Dogs Blog

Random comments can provide focus for a blog; today I find myself writing on the topic of canine play, due to a comment seen on twitter. Certainly I had something in common with this person, who was lamenting over a dog that would not play. When Doobie joined my household in May 2009, this 5 year old lab knew only fear. Play? A totally foreign concept to this frightened creature, whose immediate concerns were how to cope in a new and frightening environment. The latter is really what I wish to communicate, to all those who have rescued dogs. Canines will not play until they feel safe and secure in their environments. Fear suppresses play behaviors. Does your recently rescued dog seem completely disinterested in play? Give them time to adapt to the new environment, and learn trust in new owners.

Another important consideration: play is a learned behavior. Doobie had spent all five years of his life on a puppy mill, and beyond a doubt, had enjoyed no playful interactions with any human. Most dog owners love to play with their dogs as a highly reinforcing behavior for both species, and young puppies soon learn to engage in play. Likewise, the youngsters learn appropriate play interactions by time spent with their own kind, with playmates they feel comfortable with. Doobie had none of that. Can an older rescued dog from an atrocious background learn to play? Yes, absolutely!!

The initial tendency of Doobie was to sit back and observe my play with Talley and Bridget, in a hunkered down posture that broke my heart. He wanted to trust me, but also wanted to be able to flee if necessary.

Consider your own body language when introducing these dogs to play. What do our arms do when throwing? Yup, raise up in the air. To Doobie, that body language was a major visual threat. I learned, when trying to engage him, to be as non-threatening as possible with my arms, to keep arms at sides, doing minute little tosses with toys. It devastated me when i forgot and caused Doobie to slink away.  Nudging a rolling toy a few inches with a foot is also far less threatening than an arm raised overhead to fling.

Considering the rolling motion of toys, it can be helpful to initiate interaction with a rolling type treat toy, such as a Tricky Treat Ball. The latter is easily gripped, manipulated and dispenses kibble rather easily. Show your dog how it works by giving it a nudge to dispense kibble for them the first few times. Doobie now manipulates a Buster Cube like a pro, which gives me great joy. Try toys that squeak! While many dogs are initially afraid of movement,the squeaky noise can be quite intriguing, as can be letting it then drop gently to the ground. The squeaky bouncy combination can be quite irresistible. And yes, Doobie now runs about the yard squeaking a Bad Cuz in his mouth.

Likewise Doobie now runs holding the handle of a Jolly Ball. Many dogs seem to enjoy carrying something, so give them an opportunity with that kind of toy as well. And no, to date I have not been able to get a picture of him running with the Jolly Ball; the scoundrel runs to a spot with it, wanting to engage Talley in a wrestling match over the prize. Which leads us to socially facilitated learning. Dogs can learn play from other dogs. If you have no other dogs, here is a great article by Pat Miller on how to introduce dogs.   Download Introductions When Doobie became comfortable with his new friends, he began to follow them after them as they fetched, barking along the way.  It was then only a matter of time before he decided to investigate and pick something up in his mouth. A that point, I began to purposely toss/bounce toys towards him from a very short distance, and it was not long before he began to leap at them very much like a cat.  He has progressed to the point where he will catch a Bad Cuz in his mouth. Watching these evolving play behaviors has given me the greatest joy, observing the enrichment that has come to his life. The progression time frame will be different for each dog, but by August (3 months) Doobie had run to a toy and picked it up. The rest has continued to evolve.

Take time, be patient and explore all the options. Your dog can learn how to play. Remember that where fear exists, play will not happen. You may want to attain the services of a licensed positive dog trainer to help you with your rescued dog, with a plan to help them feel safe in their environment. Once this happens, the play begins. Good luck, and enjoy every little progression. I know I certainly have!

Leslie Fisher PMCT CPDT-KA

Management Tips For Noise Reactive Dogs: The Dog Trainer`s Dogs Blog

Yes, I have learned lots about management of the environment, to make life easier for my noise reactive Lab Doobie. The poor fellow grew up and lived the first four years of his life on a puppy mill, and so, was ill equipped to handle,to him, the horribly aversive noises of the real world. Even a car driving down the street was an ordeal at first. My intent is to give you some management tools with which you can hang on to your sanity while training new behaviors, and to make life easier for your noise reactive dog! In a future blog, I intend to write in detail about the wonderful Tellington Touch seminar Doobie and myself recently attended. For now, try some of these management tools.

1. Classical music played to mask environmental noises can work well. Investigate www.throughadogsear CD, designed specifically for anxious and noise reactive dogs.
2. Some dogs are afraid of the sound of kitchen appliances. Play music while they are in use, take your dog for a walk, or engage in a game in another part of the house.
3. Choose the quietest part of the home to crate your dog while away. Make use of baby gates to confine to a quiet area, and/or to prevent hyper-vigilant patrolling at windows. This latter behavior only serves to steadily increase arousal levels.
4. Construction going on in the neighborhood, or at your own home? Consider making use of a doggy day care during these times. I have worked with dogs whose behavior deteriorated during home renovations, due to the stress.
5. For dogs with storm phobia, try the new thundershirt: www.thundershirts.com  The compression provided by the garment provides sensory input to the nervous system and has a calming effect.
6. Close window blinds to also prevent hyper-vigilant patrolling behaviors.
7. Do some training or structured activity while the aversive noise is present, to keep your dog in a cognitive frame of mind. Giving your dog a job to do will allow less focus on the environment.
8. Make use of interactive treat toys to also keep your dog in a cognitive frame of mind. (tricky treat ball, buster cube, kibble nibble, treat stik, food pyramid, tug-a-jug, to name a few)
9. Avoid walking around the block at a busy time of day for traffic. In fact, do your  hiking at the quietest place you can find  while gradually teaching new behaviors.
10. Learn some basic Ttouch body work by going to a workshop, or from a certified practitioner. This novel sensory input can be invaluable in achieving a state of relaxation.

These are but a few management solutions for your noise reactive dog. Using common sense and removing dogs from situations that cause stress can help your dog cope, and better learn new behaviors. Remain calm yourself; your dog is already stressed and negative input from humans is the last thing these reactive dogs need! Hugs to your furry friends.

Leslie Fisher PMCT, CPDT-KA