Category: Things Your Dog Will Love

A little D.A.P.’ll do ‘ya.

Using D.A.P. can really help in addressing common, low-level behavior issues in dogs – especially when used with positive reinforcement.

It comes up frequently during my behavioral consultations and I’ve mentioned it before here on the blog, but I can’t say enough good things about D.A.P. (Dog Appeasing Pheromone).

I won’t say that it’s the Holy Grail of resolving commonplace behavior problems but it’s no sippy cup, either.

Natural appeasing pheromones are produced by lactating females shortly after birthing a litter and give the young puppies a feeling of well-being and security when they’re near mom.

D.A.P. works by mimicking those natural pheromones and helps to give adult dogs a similar sense of calm and relaxation to what they would have felt as nursing puppies.

Many clinical trials of D.A.P. both in home and shelter situations have shown that it can help as a relaxing treatment when used in conjunction with positive reinforcement desensitizing and counter-conditioning (DS/CC).  My own anecdotal experience in the field has shown the same.

It really can help and – best of all – doesn’t have any of the negative side effects seen in many anti-anxiety pharmaceuticals such as deinhibition and others.

Additionally, D.A.P. can be used in concert with many psycho-pharmaceuticals (but please double-check with your veterinary behaviorist first.)

Keep in mind that D.A.P.’s effects are not dramatic and most folks know it’s working when the collar expires and the anxious behaviors return or the diffuser runs out and they wonder why the dog is pacing again – then they check the diffuser and experience a “D’oh!” moment.  It is designed to simply take the edge off gently and inconspicuously.  This allows us to better do our DS/CC work with your dog.

We can simply stop without the step-downs necessary with many anti-anxiety medications.

If your dog is a re-homed dog new to your home this can help them settle in faster.  If your dog is not fully comfortable with everyone in their home this can help them be a bit more at ease.  And, if it doesn’t work for your dog we can simply stop without the step-downs necessary with many anti-anxiety medications.

For our part, at home we plug in the D.A.P. diffuser.  Porthos is a pretty anxious dog and when he’s stressed it affects his diabetes so it is just a precaution to keep him on an even keel.

D.A.P.’s not meant to address out-of-control anxiety issues and like psycho-pharmaceuticals it needs to be used in conjunction with behavior modification.  So, if you’ve got a dog that exhibits low-level, occasional fears and anxiety related issues you might want to give a D.A.P. diffuser or D.A.P. collar more than just a look while you are contacting a behavioral professional.

Everyone’s looking forward to Halloween, but what about your dog?

While Halloween is great fun for us, it is often very stressful for a lot of dogs. Here are some helpful tips and products.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year becasue it involves everything a holiday should – fun, silly, and chocolate.

Halloween also happens to be the day we adopted Boo –click here for that story.

The air is crisp and kids are running around super energized and dressed strangely. There are knocks on your door constantly and there’s food being handed out from bowls that are probably at dog height.

Where to put the candy?

The bowl of candy (we know is mostly chocolate) should be up and away from the dog. Your dog should not be able to reach it by jumping or putting his paws up, or knocking it over.

Halloween activities are all great fun for us, but can you think of a combination of things that could put a dog more on-edge?  (Unless, of course, you added firecrackers into the mix?)

One of the reason we like holidays so much is that they are a departure from the norm of everyday life.  We do different things. We adopt different schedules. For a large number of dogs an unexpected change in routine is like fingernails on a blackboard and can set off a spiral of stress-related, unhealthy behaviors. Watch your dog for signs of stress so you can give them a break from the merry making.

Your dog doesn’t need to be right by the door. Have your dog in another room as far from the door as possible. Give your dog a stuffed kong, filled Pupsicle, or other puzzle toys so he/she is happily occupied. A stuffed bone, or goat or lamb horn would be good too.

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I have written a number of blog posts on anxiety aids and are a few of my favorite OTC anti-anxiety supports.

If none of the anxiety aids or toys help and it seems like your dog is having a canine panic attack, you will want to consult your veterinarian and or a veterinarian behaviorist who can prescribe medication to help your dog (or cat, too) through these stressful holidays.

Then it will be time to call a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and/or a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant so you can work on skills and exercises for next year. So, you and your dog can have a…

Happy Halloween!!!

Great Doggie Lawn

The Great Lawn in Central Park became the Great Doggie Lawn…

For four days after the Global Citizens Concert, the fence around the great lawn was left down…and the dogs moved in.

I swear I could hear all the dogs say, “Best day EVER. And…why not every day?”

Those dogs have a good question. Why not every day?
Our dogs are no longer just pets. We know the power and pervasiveness of the human-animal bond that we have with our dogs.

Our dogs sleep in our beds, sit on our couches, comfort us when we cry, make us laugh when we most need it. They visit strangers in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, etc., to bring joy and therapy. They work to find, support, and guide their humans as various working and service dogs.

Don’t they deserve some of the fifty-five acres of the Great Lawn more often than just by accident after concerts.

I would imagine that morning dog-play won’t tear up the lawn any more than these huge concerts or any more than hundreds (if not thousands) of baseball cleats do every weekend during the season.

These four days when it was the Great Doggie Lawn were a civilized gift for dogs and their humans who live in an often emotionally and physically challenging city.

Why can’t the Central Park Conservancy give that gift more often by opening up the Great Lawn and other baseball lawns for dogs and humans, even if only occasionally throughout the year?

Infini-tug Toy

The Infini-tug Toy is PetSafe’s replacement for the Tennis Tug. This is my favorite tug toy. 

  • It is soft on the hands for the humans
  • It is long so allows for a good distance between dog and handler
  • It can fly nicely so you can do a combo fetch/tug game
  • It goes in the wash machine and dryer
    • A little loud in the dryer, but pretty funny if your dryer has a window and the dog can watch it go round and round.

The down sides are short, but should be mentioned:

  • While the fleece is comfortable for the handler, it can be easily destroyed by the dog.
    • Take it out when it’s tug-time. Put it away when tug-time is over.
      • Don’t leave it alone with your dog – IT WILL BE SHREDDED !
  • The fringy end can be pulled by the dog leaving the toy a bit misshapen.
    • It’s a dog toy – who cares how it looks
    • Or, try to keep the dog pulling on the ball end.

Pax’e Learns the Gum Ball Machine

Pax’e learns the gum ball machine is a nice example of trick training using a clicker.

I like using clickers for very specific tricks or tasks.

We’ll see this again when we see more of the nail board –

If you have read some of my other blogs, you will know I am not keen on perfect – just getting where we want to go as happily as possible.

You can almost see Pax’e’s brain cells firing away as she tries to understand how to make the gum ball machine work.