Pan

Pan is my Chinese Crested mix, for those of you who don’t know. He’s 7 years old, originally adopted from Frisco Humane Society when he was a year old. At his first check up he came up heartworm positive, was treated for heartworms, no problems ever since, on heartworm preventive ever since. Always in great health since then. Wasn’t even having any symptoms. He was young, he got over it.

So, on March 11 I came home from work and he was a little wheezy, and I was thinking I’d probably have to take him to the vet, but within a few minutes he went into severe distress and couldn’t get enough air. He was trying hard to breathe, but began to stumble and I thought he was going to pass out. I rushed him to the emergency vet. She did x-rays and examined him. There were striations in his lungs and she thought maybe they were scars from back when he had heartworms. She put him on steroids, and thought it might be an asthma type reaction.

He hasn’t had another event like the severe incident I took him in for, but he hasn’t been breathing well. He pants all the time, he sleeps a lot more. He’s one of those little dogs that always jumped 4 feet into the air over and over at the back door to be let in. Now he can only jump maybe a foot into the air. Maybe 2 on a good day.
No fever, no upper respiratory symptoms.

Today I took him to our regular vet and he said it doesn’t make sense that the heartworms would act up 6 years after treatment when he’s had no trouble in all that time. He tested him for new heartworm activity just to be on the safe side, and it came back negative. He said it would be really rare for a dog on heartworm preventative to get heartworms, but he wanted to be sure before chasing down a lot of other options.

I brought him the x-rays and he agreed they didn’t look normal.

He is going to send them to a veterinary radiologist and see what he thinks. He just says it’s a very unusual looking x-ray. So we’ll see, I guess.

Protest Verizon’s Pit Bull Commercial.

I am not a pit bull owner, but I work with pits and know a lot of people who own them.

The Verizon commercial featuring pit bulls chained in a junk yard is irresponsible and compounds an already difficult situation with the breed.  On the one hand some people will take it to mean it’s okay to chain them  up in junk yards.  On the other, the chains give the impression that they are bad dogs that have to be contained in cruel ways.

Contact Verizon and let them know you don’t like the commercial.  http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/vzwfly?go=/ContactUsControllerServlet

Good-bye to Bravo

Some of you know Bravo from training classes over the past several years. Some of you know her from watching the Constructional Aggression Treatment DVDs. She is the brindle Greyhound that worked as a decoy. She was the fine dog this column was named for.

This week Bravo was trying to get up from her bed and her leg suddenly sustained a spiral fracture, a break that should have taken a lot of force to cause. She spent a night with our vet before we opted to see a veterinary surgeon. I spent quite a bit of time sitting on the floor with her yesterday late afternoon, just talking and stroking her ears, her favorite thing.

It turned out that Bravo had bone cancer (osteosarcoma). This is a leading cause of death in Greyhounds. Because she has had a series of health problems lately and it was estimated that with amputation we could probably expect another 4 months with her, we decided that we could give her a gift of freedom from pain.

My 20-year-old son, Jesse, and I went to the surgeon’s office and spent some time with her today although she was sedated. We were with her when she was helped to go. It was a peaceful end.

Bravo came to us at Christmas of 2001, a terrified, overwhelmed, severely underweight Greyhound with very little experience of the world. She suffered from separation anxiety until my husband decided to just not lock her up when we left the house. After that she did just fine.

On her first day in our home, a cold winter day, she took a drink from my water garden, then walked forward and found herself in 2 feet of water and no understanding of how to get out. She learned how to get in and out of the water garden after that, and on warm days laying in the pond was one of her favorite ways to cool off.

A few days later we approached a Papillion and her owner on a walk and Bravo crawled inside my coat and wrapped herself around and between my legs. She was terrified of the small dog. Our cat, Mouse figured out that he could torment her by walking behind her. She was afraid of him too.

But those early frightened days didn’t last. Bravo soon discovered TTouch and became a big fan of attention from humans. The first time she saw children was at the vet’s office. Two tiny tots looked in the window. She went to them and looked them up and down, rubbing dog snot on the window. She adored kids forever after. Bravo loved all people. She loved nothing more than greeting new people and inviting them to rub her silky ears.

On one occasion at the dog park a big, beautiful Borzoi arrived and was surrounded by a gang of Goldens and Boxers who were up to no good. Bravo trotted into the fray from across the park, got in beside the Borzoi who was bucking with fear, and put her nose to the ground. She walked peacefully along until he got the idea and imitated her. The Goldens and Boxers stopped, shook themselves off and backed away. The Borzoi, still bewildered, went about his business of sniffing the park. Bravo came to me, exhausted and ready to go home.

Bravo was the lead decoy dog for the Constructional Aggression Treatment procedure, working with a lot of scared and angry dogs to help them find better ways to deal with the world. She did important work and she did it well.

Bravo came into this world in April 1999, bred for a life as a racing hound, but she didn’t spend long in that life. She was better suited to keeping the yard cleared of squirrels and making sure she had the first choice of dog beds and making sure there were toys all over the downstairs of the house, just in case.

On her last night at home she slept on the couch cuddled up next to my husband, getting her ears rubbed, her very favorite thing. The next morning she ran outside and around the back of the house, the important first act of any good day. She came in and ate, and found her way to her bed in my office. After a short nap she tried to get up and her good old bones just couldn’t hold on any longer.

~~

Some of you have asked what you can do to remember Bravo. The best gift of all would be a donation to ORCA, the Organization for Reinforcement Contingencies with Animals, at the University of North Texas. Write ORCA in the subject line and “In memory of Bravo” in the memo line.

Mail your check to:

ORCA Treasurer, Department of Behavior Analysis, P.O. Box 310919, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203-0919

Bravo

April 1999 to February 22, 2008

Adopted into her family on Dec. 22, 2001

Kellie Snider, BS, MS

Kids with Autism and Assistance Dogs

Photo by Kellie Snider, Copyright 2008

Background Music: Got to Be More Careful

by John Cleary and the Absolute Monster.

I have become concerned about the recent trend to use dogs to “supervise” children with autism. Some people have stories about wonderful things that happened when children were paired with assistance dogs. This is great for them, but the experiences are not necessarily universal.

Because autism is a spectrum disorder and the abilities and skills of one person with autism may vary dramatically from those of another, there are some for whom a dog may be an excellent choice as a pet and companion, if the person is interested in having a dog. However, for many of these high functioning people, so long as autism is the only disability present, there is no real need for an assistance animal since they are capable of caring for themselves. These people should be included in deciding whether they will get a dog or not, and what kinds of training the dog will receive.

The children with autism that are given assistance dogs are often not capable of participating in the decision to get a dog, nor in the training of a dog. In some cases, through no fault of the child, the animal may be mistreated. This is not because the child is “bad”, of course, but only because he isn’t capable of providing the kinds of guidance and care a dog needs, and because he may not understand when the dog is being hurt. Despite the romantic notion that dogs understand that children with autism are different and remain gentle with them, it is not clear that this is true. Although there is an idea in the culture these days that dogs are a lot like people with autism, there is no evidence that this is true, either.

For children with autism the assistance dog is usually placed in the family when it is still a young puppy and the parents are responsible for most of his/her training. Unfortunately the parents of children with autism are often overwhelmed with the enormous responsibility of raising a child with autism and adding the responsibility of training a service dog is asking a lot of them, even if they are initially quite motivated to do it.

Perhaps a greater concern is that among the diagnostic symptoms of autism is an absence of social interest. In other words, people with autism may not read facial expressions or body language appropriately or at all. They often do not like being touched. They do not make eye contact or look directly at other people or animals. They may respond in abnormal or unusual, sometimes dangerous, ways to tastes, tactile stimuli (whether pain or seemingly mild sensations), sounds, smells, and visual stimuli. They often do not care about animals, and may not like being touched by animals.

Unless and until a child has exhibited a positive response to animals on multiple occasions, an assistance dog is not recommended. Animals may be used in various kinds of therapy, including behavioral treatment to help the child learn to tolerate animals, under supervision for limited periods of time. Often pairing children with autism with assistance dogs is done because it makes grown-ups who do not have autism feel good.

Last but not least, the life of an assistance dog is challenging. For most assistance dogs the positive relationship with his partner is what keeps him going. It is difficult to forge interpersonal relationships with children with autism. For the dog assisting a child with moderate to severe autism, sometimes this social reinforcement is not available. It is up to other family members to ensure that the dog’s needs are met and that nothing happens toward which he may respond with aggression or fear.

If a dog is to be placed in a family to help a child with autism, the parent must always be present and responsible for the dog during every interaction he has with the child. This is for the protection of the dog as well as of the child. It is an unfair and potentially tragic mistake to assume a dog can be a nanny or a supervisor for any child, especially one with autism. Likewise it is unfair to expect a child with autism to be responsible for the safety and well-being of an assistance animal.

If a parent of a child with autism wants to get a dog, that is great, but the adoption of a dog into any family must be taken seriously. Talk with others with similar experiences, determine what the dog’s needs are and how those will meld with those of the adoptive family. Will the family have the time, wherewithal and money to care for a dog in addition to a child with autism? Caring for a child with autism is expensive. Is there enough money in the family to care for a dog’s needs should he become ill or injured?

If a dog is to be placed with a family of a child with autism there should be a guaranteed return policy. No matter what, the family must be able to return the dog to his breeder or assistance dog group if it doesn’t work out for any reason.

It is simply not safe to entrust a child with autism to a dog’s care unless an adult is in charge and on task in overseeing all interactions. Nor is it safe to entrust a dog with a child with autism except under adult supervision. A dog adopted into the family must be trained, and assistance tasks may be helpful, but perhaps not as helpful as solid manners training.

Kellie Snider, BS, MS

Board Certified Associate Behavior Analyst

Speaking up for those who have no choice.

The Positive Vs. Traditional Training Debate

Background music:  I Can’t Get No Satisfaction… the Rolling Stones.  Some guys are working on my house and it is playing on their radio.   

I just unsubbed myself from a discussion group about canine aggression which I joined as a little experiment.  (Nah, I won’t say which one!) Over the two days on the list, someone came up with a problem with a young dog bugging an older dog and the older dog getting snarky in return.  My suggestion?  Management during meal times.  Teach the dogs what to do instead of snarking at each other.  I didn’t respond to their recommendations to correct, I just added Manage and Teach.  There was no serious aggression yet- it was all managable without punishing either dog.  (I know a little something about canine aggression.) 

I posted a couple of times before getting a public rebuke from a list moderator saying that what I was saying was “rhetoric that doesn’t work” and referring to positive training as “the dark side”, while, out of the other side of her mouth, saying this was a list for trainers to talk openly about training without “fear of being unsubbed or worse”.  Yet they were making it clear right from the start that I was not free to suggest anything on that list that didn’t involve corrections.  I was being told that I should fear being unsubbed or worse.  (What’s worse in discussion group land?  Is she going to stalk me?  Geez.)

Talk openly, my eye.  It seems to be quite difficult for positive and correction-based trainers to speak openly together … even when we want to.  But I can understand.  On my own discussion list I will shut down conversations that get adversarial, so maybe that moderator had a history of such.  Not with me, though … she didn’t give me a chance.  She went into correction mode before she got to know me.  I realized I wasn’t going to learn anything there and opted to leave. 

Her response demonstrated a definite defensive posture she had obviously learned before I came along, and a clear over-reading of what I wrote. That’s sadly common.  I’m thinking it means too many positive trainers aren’t positive with their correction-based colleagues.  That’s something we should work on, but it’s hard when we’re being yelled at. 

From what the moderator wrote, the list assumes that positive training is nothing but clickers and treats for all problems.  There’s so much misinformation about it.  I was a handy target for whatever anger they’ve learned to have toward anyone working to effectively change animal behavior without causing them unnecessary pain and distress. 

There are those clicker trainers with limited repertoires that use nothing but clicks and treats, but as clicker trainers mature in the profession they learn a lot more. The clicker is a great teaching tool for many things. It’s not appropriate for everything.  When someone jumps right on that old “You can’t cure all ills with clickers!” bandwagon I know I’m dealing with someone who doesn’t know much about positive training. I hope if you’re reading this you’ll take that as a cue to study. 

Probably the best thing about the positive training world is that the members are largely devoted to learning, studying, even, in some cases going back to school and investing great amounts of time, money and effort to really know what they are talking about.  I have to be frank.  I don’t see this on the correction-based training side.  It’s their choice… but it means they can’t defend their practices.  They can only be defensive.

The biggest problem I have with the Anti-Positive side (or as a colleague of mine calls it, Negative Training) is that they often dismiss or even ridicule scientific research on behavior and training.  They aren’t educated in the sciences of behavior, they don’t know how learning works.  Yet they condemn positive trainers for following the science and training effectively without force and pain. 

What kind of world is it that promotes force and pain and won’t listen to alternatives?  Even when those alternatives are proven to be effective? 

Curiouser and Curiouser. 

We’re closing today’s blog with

Feelin’ Alright by Joe Cocker.  Playing on iTunes.   

Seems I’ve got to have a chance of scene…

Every night I have the strangest dream…

Imprisoned by the way it might have been…

Left here on my own, or so it seems…

I’ve got to leave before I start to scream…

Someone locked the door and turned the key.

Feelin’ Alright… not feeling that good myself… oh oh…

But in fact, I am feeling pretty good.  Next song up…

“This is the story of Minnie the Moocher…

She was a red hot hoochie coocher…

She was the roughest toughest friend,

But Minnie had a heart as big as a whale.”

… by Band From TV.  Check it out on iTunes.  A row of good tunes can turn around a bad mood.  “Hi de hi, hi de ho… told you before that I love you so…“ 

Need a best friend?

Background Music:  I heard this song called “Let’s Go Trick or Treating Dressed Up Like Marylin Manson” by Self over the weekend.  It cracks me up and I can’t get it out of my head.  So even though only I can hear it, that’s what’s playing.

I visited Operation Kindness in Carrollton, Texas last week with Mike Glass, a dedicated and devoted volunteer there to work with one of their dogs.  The staff and volunteers really go the extra mile for their animals. While I was there I met a little dog named Buster.  A very small Chihuahua. Three pounds at 7 years old.  He is the cutest little thing you ever saw, and coming from someone who is really a big dog kind of person, that’s saying a lot.  Alas, he may have some trouble with a back leg.  Stay tuned… or better yet, visit Operation Kindness or a shelter in your area. If you are in the market for a pet you’re sure to find one.  If you’re full up, just ask and see what kind of help they could use.  D0nate your old towels  or a few bucks, clean cages, walk pooches… there is always something needing doing when caring for homeless animals.  Even campaigning for the adoption of a special animal is important work!  There is a guy in our town who goes to the Animal Control in our city and takes pictures of the pets and posts them on Petfinder.com to make sure they get the widest exposure for adoption.  What’s your talent? 

So, we’ve had this guy painting our house and there are a couple of days left to go.  Then some flooring guys come in.  Wish us patience and luck.  So far it looks very good! 

Kellie Snider, MS

www.animalbehavioranswers.com

Days Like This Keep Us Warm

“Each night a child is born is a holy night.”

~Sophia Lyons Fahs

My son played drums during the Christmas Eve service at the Horizon Unitarian Universalist Church. The minister, Dennis Hamilton, always eloquent, spoke of the miracle of every child’s birth. Every child is born naked and needing us.

We are called to be our best selves each time a child is born. Now. And now. And now. Two hundred and forty seven babies are born each minute in this world, and two hundred and forty seven times per minute we are called upon to be responsible.

Of course we can’t care for each of the babies born all over the world, look over them personally and ensure that no one hurts them, that they get the food, shelter, clothing and love that they need. It’s simply not possible.

So, reach out to those who are close to you who need an advocate or a smile, whether they be children or someone else you can touch in some way. Elders. Animals. The homeless. The poor. Those imprisoned by criminal acts or mental disorders or developmental disabilities. The illiterate or those who are temporarily illiterate due to moving to a new country. The person whose color or religion or ethnicity keeps them outside the welcome of the community.

The lonely woman next door. The dog on the tether day after day in his back yard.

It doesn’t have to be an overwhelming task. Sometimes simply speaking up is all it takes. A hand with the groceries. A letter to the editor. An offer to walk the dog, to teach him a few tricks, to make his life a little brighter and show his owner how things could be.

Or just a bowl of water. A simple bowl of clean water.

The song in which my son performed on Christmas Eve is called “Days Like This Keep Us Warm,” by Polyphonic Spree. A perfect song of renewal for the end of one year and the beginning of the next.

Remember that 4 new babies are born every second on this planet. Every moment we live is the chance to honor a holy birth.

Here’s to your generous celebrations in 2008.

Has someone done something special for you this year, that lifted your burden? Made life a little easier? Made you smile? I would love to hear about them and share them with the readers here.

 

Kellie Snider, MS

PS.  Who is that in the picture?  That’s me on the left and my very first friend, Lori, on the right.  We reunited in December 2007 after not seeing each other for more than 30 years.  Still friends!

 

Beyond Genetics: The handling of Pit Bulls and other canines.

10/8/07By Kellie S. Snider

Co-developer with Jesus Rosales-Ruiz, PhD of Constructional Aggression Treatment.

http://www.tawzerdogvideos.com/JesusRosalesRuiz-KellieSnider.htm

There’s no way around it. Pit bulls and the many varieties and related breeds are large and powerful. If you’ve ever stroked the side of a healthy Pit Bull, you know that solid feeling of strength. Even if the Pit is looking up at you with a goofy grin you can feel the capacity under your hand. Those muscles ripple under the skin with scarcely a hint of padding. He may not look lean because of the bulk of his solid structure, but he is a substantial mass of hard muscled dog. Even a sweet, loving Pit Bull is a formidable dog. Keeping an animal of such power requires a responsible owner, not because Pit Bulls are genetically different from other dogs, but because they are big and powerful.  We are all aware that not everyone who elects to keep Pit Bulls is what society at large would consider responsible. The readership of this blog are probably on the same page when I say that responsible ownership includes at a minimum keeping the dog healthy and well-fed, housing him securely out of harsh weather and providing frequent access to social activities with humans and other dogs so that he learns to accept both humans and dogs as family and friends. I hesitate to say the responsible owner trains his or her dog because some kinds of training make dogs more aggressive, but indeed, the responsible trainer trains. The responsible owner does not introduce his or her dog to situations in which he could hurt someone (either canine or human), he does not encourage his dog to fight, nor does he or she subject humans or other dogs to unsafe interactions with his or her dog.

 

More and more zoos are moving to a no-contact or protected-contact policy with powerful animals. It’s not because elephants are always mean or that giraffes can never  be trusted. The reason these policies are becoming more common is that large animals can and sometimes do kill people, both intentionally and by accident. An irritable elephant can easily kill an adult human. So can a completely friendly elephant, by accident. When I’ve been inside zoos watching keepers care for and train the animals, it is quite apparent that most of them love the animals dearly.  But they also respect their strength and safety precautions are taken.

 

It is my view that when we own large, powerful pet dogs precautions must be taken.  Should we only interact with them from behind bars? I’m not saying that. But we must not be tricked into complacency because this particular powerful animal happens to be a dog and a pet rather than a zoo resident. We must remain constantly aware that the friendly dog at our side is not necessarily going to be friendly to everyone else.Let me be perfectly clear. The friendly dog at my side need not be a pit bull to behave different around different people. Every dog on the planet behaves differently under different conditions. My 12 pound Chinese Crested mix, Pan, is lovable around me and my family but he would bite a child who did not respond to his noisy warnings. We see very few small children in our home. I take him out into public where we might accidentally meet up with a child, but it’s quite easy to pick him up and tuck him under my arm when they come around. 

The thing is, pit bulls have their preferences, too. If an 80-pound-Pit Bull who is precious around all the adults in his life but has never been around kids and decides the noisy darting small humans aren’t to their liking, I haven’t met the owner who can swing him up under her arm pit to ward off trouble. While the thought of a pit bull under someone’s arm is amusing, the difference between the damage the pit bull and my Chinese Crested cross could do is not.

Checking the replies to earlier posts you’ll find one that claimed dachshunds never kill humans.  I presented a newspaper article that said, alas, at least one dachshund killed a human infant. The response to that was that the killing of people by dachshunds is different and rare. The fact is, it’s rare only because dachshunds are little. It’s not any different.

Simply put, the owners of little dogs get a break the owners of big dogs don’t get. And it’s not about discrimination. It’s about what each animal is capable of. Sure, little dogs might bite, might bark, might growl, but they can’t do as much damage and do it as easily as a large dog. Yes, some tiny dogs have killed people and a lot have injured people. But for a little dog to kill it takes everything he’s got.  For a pit bull or a German Shepherd or a Rottweiller to kill doesn’t take nearly as much effort because they’re big and powerful.

So the owners of large, powerful dogs have additional responsibilities. Sadly legislation leans toward what to do to punish you after your dog causes damage or toward simply making it impossible to have a large dog. It would be so much more useful if the legislation was proactive and occurred on the front end of pet ownership. I know that some of you frown on any kind of legislation, so let me just throw out a few of the things I consider best-practices by dog owners of dogs of any breed, especially large, powerful breeds.

 1)       If the dog is adopted as a puppy, or if you breed a litter, begin socialization activities immediately. (For breeders this can start when the pup is one day old, long before his eyes are even opened.) Gently introduce the puppy to new things every day.          

a.  Lay him on a hard floor for a few minutes and let him crawl around.

b.  Lay him on a scratchy carpet.

c.  On a warm day hold him briefly in front of a fan and let him feel the air.

d.  Carry him around the neighborhood and introduce him to your neighbors.

e.  Set him down in the grass.

f.   Restrain him and release him when he stops struggling. This will teach him that restraint isn’t a cause for alarm.

g.  Brush his fur with a soft brush often no matter how short it is, no matter how pointless that seems.

h.  Touch his nails with the nail trimmer every day, and make clipping noises with it even if his nails don’t need trimming that day. 

i.   Give him regular baths from the time he is a wee dog.

j.   Take him to the park, to the pet store, for rides in the car.

k.  VERY importantly… introduce him to a new person of a different type every single day.  People in wheel chairs, people on crutches, babies, toddlers, preschoolers, pre-teens, adolescents, adults, elderly people.  People in uniforms (rush out to meet the mail carrier as often as possible!), people in hats, people riding bikes. 

l.   ALSO important… introduce him to as many friendly dogs as possible.  Yes, I know that veterinarians are concerned about health issues when puppies are quite small so make sure the dogs your puppy is introduced to are vaccinated and healthy themselves, but do it. If your puppy meets all sorts of dogs he is far less likely to freak out when he meets a weird one when he’s 2.

    i.      Special note… it is great to take puppies to socialization and early training classes, but make 100% sure it’s not a force-based training class.  No choke chains, no prong collars, no corrections.  Why?  Those are the dogs whose owners end up calling me saying, “My dog was fine until we took that training class.  Now he’s aggressive.” 

 2)        If you adopt an adult dog, do a modified version of the above. 

a.  Take him/her on walks in different places, carefully observing how he or she acts.

b.  Arrange play dates with friendly dogs, being very observant.

c.  Introduce him to a lot of different kinds of people.

d.  Let him walk in grass, on concrete, on tile, etc.

e.  Expose him to different noises, smells, sights, touches.

f.   Gently begin daily grooming activities, even if they’re fake “getting used to things” sessions.

g.  Train him to do some basic good manners behavior.  E.g.  

                      i.      If you are on that mat while I’m cooking I’ll toss you treats.    

                      ii.    If you stay here when I say “Wait” very soon I will get you and we’ll go have fun.

                      iii.      If you keep your feet on the floor I will pet you, but if you jump on me I will turn away.

3)      PUT THE PROPER KIND OF GEAR ON YOUR DOG!!!!!a.  If you cannot manage your dog on a flat collar or a body harness, use a Halti, Gentle Leader, Snoot Loop or New Trix head collar.                        

i.      Do not fasten it too tight, but ensure that he can’t slip out of it.                         

ii.      NOT OPTIONAL:  Fasten the head collar to the flat collar or a body harness to ensure that the dog doesn’t back out of the head collar.b.  If your dog has shown any kind of aggression or gets stressed or fearful, put a muzzle on him when you go out.  Tell your neighbors it’s a just-in-case measure.

c.  Can your dog bite through nylon leashes?  Get a chain leash.

d.  Has your dog ever broken a leash or collar?  Put two on him. Yes, two at once. Consider a head collar attached to a body harness with the leashes attached to the head collar.   

4)        Can you physically restrain your dog in an emergency?

a.  Think hard before adopting a dog you won’t be able to physically restrain in his adulthood in an emergency.

b.  Do not consider training classes optional. Take your dog to a positive-reinforcement based training class at least once a year, and practice what you’ve learned in between.

c.  Give some serious thought to how and where you will take him out. (I once attended a seminar which a woman who had recently had back surgery attended with an adult aggressive German Shepherd. Not a good idea. She could not handle that dog without risking her own health and the safety of others present.)  d.  Find a walking buddy. Take your dog out with a companion the dog knows and trusts to help you.    e.  Take him out to places that are lightly populated.

 

5)      If your dog shows signs of aggression, do not hesitate to find help.  

The Constructional Aggression Treatment DVD is one option.

http://www.tawzerdogvideos.com/JesusRosalesRuiz-KellieSnider.htm. 

6)       Do not subject any dog to forceful, painful training methods. 

Copyright 2007, Kellie Snider  

 

 

 

 

Pit Bulls: The Matter of Genetic Causation

Kellie Snider

Board Certified Associate Behavior Analyst

Co-developer of the Constructional Aggression Treatment for Dogs

http://www.tawzerdogvideos.com/JesusRosalesRuiz-KellieSnider.htm

Among the reasons given for legislating breed restrictions and bans in communities is the belief that genes dictate behavior. This is a mistake. Genes inform many things. They inform the construction of the body. (A parrot develops 2 wings and 2 legs and a dog develops 4 legs because of genetics. An English bulldog develops a head shaped like a volleyball and the Greyhound develops a long, narrow wedge-shaped head because of genetics.)  They also inform what reinforcers the organism will work for. (Many horses will work for carrots but few will be interested in liver treats. A duckling will work to stay close to its mother.) To the extent that an animal is physically capable of performing a behavior and finds the outcomes for the performance reinforcing, he will perform the behavior.  

Eagles don’t fly because they are genetically programmed to fly.  They fly because they have the right stuff and flying helps them access reinforcers. The same is true for pit bulls. They don’t kill because they are genetically programmed to kill. They kill because they have the right stuff and killing can produce desirable reinforcers in some situations.  The reinforcer may be food. The reinforcer may be distance from frightening dogs. The reinforcer may be the stilling of the fighting opponent. Without those outcomes the dog would not fight. Pit bulls don’t fight just because it’s fun. They fight because the environment has made it more beneficial for them than any other behavior they have tried. 

Genes don’t require an organism to do anything. They only give him a physical package capable of behaving a certain way in a given a certain set of circumstances. Given a certain set of circumstances! This is also true for Chihuahuas, Cocker spaniels, Greyhounds, mixed breed poodles. It’s true for every living organism. Fighting pit bulls often learn that there is no choice but to fight, and if they live to fight more than once they do the kinds of fighting that work best, meaning they get better and better at fatal aggressive behavior. This does not mean they are genetically programmed to fight.  This means they’ve learned what they had to learn to survive. 

Pit bulls living in well-meaning, loving families may learn aggressive behaviors pay off, too. But once again, this isn’t because they’re pit bulls. It’s because aggressive behaviors tend to produce distinct outcomes. If a dog of any breed snarls at you, more likely than not you’ll move away. Ah, that’s what he wants, so the next time he wants someone to back off, he’s going to snarl. If they’re slow about it, he’s going to throw in a growl, or a bark, or a lunge or a bite. Pit bulls that learn that aggression works are learning just what other breeds of dogs learn under the same sets of circumstances. If pit bulls are going to be banned because of genetic tendencies, we have to ban all dogs. We need to also ban parrots. And cats. We need to ban humans, too, come to think of it. Maybe humans most of all.

Pit bulls are only doing what every other organism does. They do what works.

©2007, Kellie Snider

Pit Bulls: The Matter of Genetic Causation

 Not a pit bull. 

This is Bravo, the lovely Greyhound the blog is named after.

Kellie SniderBoard Certified Associate Behavior Analyst

Co-developer of the Constructional Aggression Treatment for Dogs

http://www.tawzerdogvideos.com/JesusRosalesRuiz-KellieSnider.htm 

Among the reasons given for legislating breed restrictions and bans in communities is the belief that genes dictate behavior. This is a mistake. Genes inform many things. They inform the construction of the body. (A parrot develops 2 wings and 2 legs and a dog develops 4 legs because of genetics. An English bulldog develops a head shaped like a volleyball and the Greyhound develops a long, narrow wedge-shaped head because of genetics.)  They also inform what reinforcers the organism will work for. (Many horses will work for carrots but few will be interested in liver treats. A duckling will work to stay close to its mother.) To the extent that an animal is physically capable of performing a behavior and finds the outcomes for the performance reinforcing, he will perform the behavior.   

Eagles don’t fly because they are genetically programmed to fly.  They fly because they have the right stuff and flying helps them access reinforcers. The same is true for pit bulls. They don’t kill because they are genetically programmed to kill. They kill because they have the right stuff and killing can produce desirable reinforcers in some situations.  The reinforcer may be food. The reinforcer may be distance from frightening dogs. The reinforcer may be the stilling of the fighting opponent. Without those outcomes the dog would not fight. Pit bulls don’t fight just because it’s fun. They fight because the environment has made it more beneficial for them than any other behavior they have tried.   

Genes don’t require an organism to do anything. They only give him a physical package capable of behaving a certain way in a given a certain set of circumstances. Given a certain set of circumstances! This is also true for Chihuahuas, Cocker spaniels, Greyhounds, mixed breed poodles. It’s true for every living organism.

Fighting pit bulls often learn that there is no choice but to fight, and if they live to fight more than once they do the kinds of fighting that work best, meaning they get better and better at fatal aggressive behavior. This does not mean they are genetically programmed to fight.  This means they’ve learned what they had to learn to survive.   

Pit bulls living in well-meaning, loving families may learn aggressive behaviors pay off, too. But once again, this isn’t because they’re pit bulls. It’s because aggressive behaviors tend to produce distinct outcomes. If a dog of any breed snarls at you, more likely than not you’ll move away. Ah, that’s what he wants, so the next time he wants someone to back off, he’s going to snarl. If they’re slow about it, he’s going to throw in a growl, or a bark, or a lunge or a bite. Pit bulls that learn that aggression works are learning just what other breeds of dogs learn under the same sets of circumstances. If pit bulls are going to be banned because of genetic tendencies, we have to ban all dogs. We need to also ban parrots. And cats.

We need to ban humans, too, come to think of it. Maybe humans most of all. Pit bulls are only doing what every other organism does. They do what works.  

©2007, Kellie Snider  

Constructional Aggression Treatment for Dogs

http://www.tawzerdogvideos.com/JesusRosalesRuiz-KellieSnider.htm

 

Want to learn more about the CAT for Dogs?  Visit www.animalbehavioranswers.com