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Jamie Robinson is the owner/operator of Seize the Leash. She is an eclectic dog trainer who uses the best training and/or behavior techniques and practices to assist you in teaching your dog. It is her belief that a dog should learn in a positive fashion as this yields the best outcomes resulting in a well-trained, good mannered and obedient dog. If you would like to ask Jamie a question please click here.

recommends you!). I just adopted my new pup Sunday and she is transitioning exceptionally well.

One thing that I hope you can assist me with- I see she has some anxiety when I leave, which consists of her crying and some howling/barking. She does calm down. She is making small strides in reducing anxiety each day she is with me and I am celebrating her small successes. I would love for her to trust me, and her feel secure since she has been abandoned in the past.

I would really like to enlist your services. I see that you will be offering classes in July and would like to sign up for them if you think we would benefit. She likes to be around other dogs and I think she would really love the group environment. Which series of classes would be best for a small, young dog who has some anxiety when left alone? Also, she does not yet grasp the basic commands such as sit and stay. Or, would it be best for a one on one visit? Many thanks and look forward to meeting you! Jessica

is a cutie !!!

So, separation anxiety and anxiety in general. Dogs are social creatures, just as we are, they don't like being left alone especially in a strange place. It sounds like you are doing great. Just keep doing what you are doing.

Because she has only been with you since Sunday, the pattern of departures and arrivals hasn't been set with her yet, so the normal "ritual" that I prescribe for separation anxiety most likely won't work. That said, there are many things you can do to make this process go a little faster.

1) Take her out for a good strong tiring walk before you leave the house.
2) Don't fuss about leaving, just leave.
3) Don't fuss when you come home, just walk in the door (if she's in a crate let her out), ignore Maddie completely for at least 5 minutes. Come in, put your purse down, listen to your messages, turn on your computer, whatever, but don't greet Maddie yet. When she looks like she is bored with your arrival, that's when you pay attention to her. Make this greeting of a calm dog really happy and exciting for her.
4) get her some mentalling challenging toys - a busy ball, a kong, treat puzzles and chew toys. Rotate her toys every day, don't let her get bored with them. Have enough toys that you can rotate every day for at least 4 days before repeating a toy.
5) Now take her for another walk or play fetch or tug or with a flirt pole (for her size you can use one of the cat toys which is a pole and string with a fuzzy thing tied on the end for her to chase and "kill").Dogs love an ordered existence. If you do this every day, where she can count on things happening regularly, it will speed up the process.

Trust is built with a dog through play and shared outings - just like in the wild, they play and rest together and then go hunting. Tiny Tyrants (Thursday nights at 6) group class would be a great place for her to be. She would get the socialization she needs and learn some new things with you, the person who is going to be the center of her life. The class, even though it's for reactive dogs, will help any dog that has issues, no matter what they are. The class teaches three main important things 1) calm 2) that the answer to all questions is look at mommy and 3) how to communicate both with other dogs and the human world.

I don't actually teach obedience, but sit, down, stay, wait, leave it, give it, take it, drop it and other "tricks" are part of the curriculum as a step in learning a calming or coping exercise.

Jamie Robinson
727-686-4246
520-751-7772 (message only)
www.seizetheleash.com
www.caninebehaviortraining.com

...continue taking Bailey to the reactive doggies class. I recommend yes based on two recent experiences:

My family took her out in public and a kid (7 year old) asked to pet her. When he approached she got her hackles up and went into barking fit (I was not there so don't know specifics of how he approached - but he did have enough sense to ask and my husband/kids were surprised by Bailey's response)

I took her out thereafter and thought she was fine with a man, but when he reached down to pet her she got really freaked and skiddish, squirming to get away.

So it seems I need to better understand how to read and reassure her. Do I have the go ahead from TCWN? I'm not sure how your relationship is structured. Thank you all for all the support.

...calming signals and how to read Bailey better. Here are some tips before class tonight.

Most dogs, and Bailey I noticed is no exception, do not like to be petted on the top of the head. Think of it this way, put your hand in a position of going for the top of a dogs head, look at it, what does it look like? Kinda like the claws of a large bird maybe? Avoiding things coming out of the sky with sharp talons is instinctive in canines.

So I'm going to surmise that in both instances, the person/child approaching did two things - they stared straight into Bailey's eyes (challenge/threat) and had their hand out, fingers pointing down, over the top of Bailey's head.

In the first instance with the child, you say that Bailey started barking and got her hackles up. That's late in the chain of calming signals that a dog will give. Start watching her signals. If she's licking her lips, sniffing the ground, backing up, getting whale eyed, glancing repeatedly at you or anything that appears unusual, tell the person approaching to stop and back up. Don't force Bailey to escalate her signals to the point of a bite. She is restricted by that lead and can't do what's natural (flee). She wants the scary thing to go away or at least back up to a social level instead of a personal one since she can't. Since she is on a lead, YOU have to watch and act as necessary.

In the second instance you say that she just freaked and tried to get away. I submit that she did learn something from the first instance, she made her "flight" signal much stronger and you caught it. This is the stuff of desensitization. So you continue taking her out, watching her signals and making sure she doesn't get to the point where she has to tell you loudly that she's uncomfortable.

You said the right thing when you mentioned that you need to learn to read her better. But the reassurance part isn't. She doesn't need reassurance that something approaching her with threat and talons is ok, she needs to back away from it. All the exercises that we do in class teaches a dog how and when to allow things into the social space, but the personal space is something else. Think about it, would you want some stranger coming and giving you a kiss because you're "so cute"?

I know it seems that there are dogs out there that just seem to like every one and every thing. I submit that these dogs where very socialized as puppies and young adults and learned that for the most part, the world isn't scary. Bailey didn't get that and has had a rough ride. She needs time to heal and time to learn that the world is a great place.

Jamie Robinson
727-686-4246
520-751-7772 (message only)
www.seizetheleash.com
www.caninebehaviortraining.com

I had to break them apart 3 times, the first one was in the late afternoon and the last fight was late at night. They were fighting over an ice cube, a ball and I dont know what the last one was about. I did end up getting nipped the last time by Shiv. Shiv seems to start it every time there is a problem. When they were fighting I grabbed hold of Shiv by the scruff of her neck and pulled her back, she has never tried to bite me before. She then was put straight into her kennel. Ellie goes to her kennel on command so I didnt have to drag her in there. Ellie is a very calm submissive dog. Shiv hasnt had any big problems with my 2 males. She does play pretty rough and at times gets a little carried away but all I have to do is raise my voice and she stops. I would like to know what I can do to keep the girls from fighting and me from getting bit again. Thanks for any advice you can offer.

bored and there is a bit of resources guarding happening.

You have two dogs that are both adolescents. They are both trying to figure out where they "fit" in the pack and it sounds like they might be fairly equal in determination. Generally dogs will compromise over toys and food - whoever wants it the most gets it and the other just shakes her head basically saying "ok, if you really want it that bad, take it, I'll find something else". I'm not anthropomorphising here, just trying to put this compromising type behavior in words us poor humans can understand.

Dogs conserve energy as much as possible and fighting wastes energy. So to have a fight means they both want the toy equally and neither one is willing to compromise. What you need to learn is how to spot the signalling behavior that happens before the fight and stop it before it escalates - meaning you don't get bit either. Once both dogs have calmed down, claim the toy/bone/treat and then put it away. Give each one something else to chew on.

The signalling behavior will include things like, huffing, snorting, the eyes going hard, growling and dancing spots (if you can see the spots on the nose where the whiskers are - genereally on pits you can't). Watch the ears, the eyes and the mouth. When the ears go back or prick forward suddenly, when the eyes go hard or the whites start showing, when the mouth contracts showing only the front teeth and none of the back teeth, when the mouth closes and the eyes go hard means a bite is imminent.

Raise your voice, say HEY loud, touch them both on the waist hard enough to get their attention and fast enough that your hand -resembles a snake biting - in and out fast but with enough oomph that they both look at you like "I'm sorry mom, it won't happen again".

If at first you don't keep it from escalating, ask yourself this question? Have they ever actually hurt each other? If not, let it go, see how far they will take it. If they learned bite inhibition as puppies, they will not bite each other. An ear might get torn or something might get scratched, but that's usually incidental. If they don't stop within 2 minutes, or you start to see blood, then break it up. My favorite method is to throw something on the ground right at their feet that makes a ton of noise, like a can full of pennies. If you have to grab, grab the rear legs and pull back really fast.

This is reaction. Now for the prevention. Teach them both "leave it". Take them on a long walk or give them some other strenuous type activity twice a day for 1/2 hour each time. Fetch, tug, flirt pole, anything that is going to really tire them out. 15 minutes a day, teach everyone something or run through a quick routine of all the tricks they know. Make them think, get them mentally stimulated. Create an obstacle course in your back yard and teach them to go through it. Rotate their toys and "give" them each their toys every day, you own the toys not them, they need to learn that. Practice claiming the toys using nothing but your body language and your attitude.

Jamie Robinson
727-686-4246
520-751-7772 (message only)
www.seizetheleash.com
www.caninebehaviortraining.com

well feed, yellowing teeth, much to much for his age. He was taken from the house that had 10 other dogs and hadn't been fed for sometime. Then he spend 10 days in PACC. Here is our little Dukes problem, he goes to the bathroom on towels and rugs and if lucky enough to get him to go outside its on piles of pine needles. She bought and put in a doggy door but still... New mom is not happy. What kind of retraining ideas can I offer this new mom?
Thank you. Beth

an older dog that was never housetrained to begin with, is to attach the dog to you when you are home. Tie a rope around your waist and attach it to the dogs collar. This way the dog is always with you and you can start spotting his signals. As soon as you see his potty signals, take him outside to a designated spot (use the towels or rugs or pine needles outside to start with) and tell hiim to "go potty" or "hurry up". Be totally calm and matter-of-fact about the whole process. When he's done doing his business, praise him lightly and go back in the house.

When you aren't home, if he is already crate trained, put him in the crate. If he isn't crate trained you have two options. Crate train him or get a cat box and put a bathroom towel in it (an old one that you don't mind washing a lot).

It sounds like he could have been litter box trained or pee pad trained. You could use this to gradually move him outside through the dog door. Don't leave rugs or towels down anywhere for him to use for a couple of weeks except the one in front of the dog door. For three days practice luring him outside to another towel through the dog door. On the third day, remove the towel that's on the inside and leave the one that's on the outside for him to use.

If you don't make a fuss about things, don't punish him for going in the house, especially don't punish him hours later, then he should be choosing to go outside within a week or two.

Here are the two links I told you about.
The Importance of Walking Your Dog and The Need for Exercise. www.perfectthewalk.com/importance
www.seizetheleash.com/files/exercise

Here is a map of Ft Lowell Park and where in the park I hold the classes. www.caninebehaviortraining.com/services

Jamie Robinson
727-686-4246
520-751-7772 (message only)
www.seizetheleash.com
www.caninebehaviortraining.com

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Jamie Robinson
727-686-4246
520-751-7772 (message only)
www.seizetheleash.com
www.caninebehaviortraining.com

...finish question here.

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Jamie Robinson
727-686-4246
520-751-7772 (message only)
www.seizetheleash.com
www.caninebehaviortraining.com

...finish question here.

...finish answer here

Jamie Robinson
727-686-4246
520-751-7772 (message only)
www.seizetheleash.com
www.caninebehaviortraining.com