Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[ru.]

Just got an update from Embark

After the genotyping process, Embark’s genomicists receive the information for the 200,000+ markers in Olive’s DNA. What remains is a very complicated and time-intensive process of computational analysis to convert the lab readings into specific genotypes and insights for Olive. In simpler terms, our resident nerds are making progress!

Some of these analytical steps can run for several days, even on the fastest computers! This process typically takes two to four weeks, but in some cases where a dog has especially complicated genetics it can take a little longer to complete, as we check and double-check every result.

We will be in touch soon with another update. We're excited to get you Olive's results!

Best,

Team Embark

Not much longer to wait now, I'm so excited!

Aaah! I can't wait! I am always so curious about these sort of things and it'll be fun for you especially but for everyone (myself included) to see confirmation on what exactly makes Olive so unique!

[Imzadi83]

@halogen

The dog is marking outside as in on walks and such.

I have some other questions, all for a friend.

First of all, how do you deal with resource guarding? Not with food, but with toys? This dog isn't particularly toy motivated - they only play with toys if you get hyper and excited about said toy in front of them. My friend was playing fetch with the dog, or trying to, and went to grab the toy and got aggressively growled at.

Also, this dog pulls the leash insanely hard to the point of choking themselves, and will pull your arms out of their sockets.

The dog also isn't fully housebroken (they don't think it's ok to go in the house, as they don't have accidents frequently and they give that 'guilty dog look' when caught, but they do go in the house occasionally).

Some help? Thanks!

Marking is normal, and he should be doing it outside. I'm not sure what the problem is there? Marking is an important communication tool for dogs. If he's doing it someplace he shouldn't (like the neighbors mailbox) the best thing to do is to simply walk him past it, perhaps even crossing the streets, and allow him access to things he can mark, like a tree.

As far as housebreaking goes if they are having accidents in the house it is either a) medical (if this starting happening suddenly a vet check is in order b) caused by a stressor (that would need to be identified and dealt with) or c) they were never fully housebroken in the first place. Regardless they should not be left alone when unsupervised. They can be kept crated, or closed in a room with someone who's watching them, etc. Here's a video with tips on housebreaking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvPiFcG7ROI When in doubt start from the beginning and go from there. Please do not advise your friend to spank their dog, this could be very dangerous. Also it can cause the dog to simply wait till the person is not around to pee indoors which won't solve the problem and make it more difficult to solve.

For leash pulling I recommend a front clip harness. I do not recommend a head halter, many dogs can't stand them and some will walk well in them but then pull when not on them so it doesn't teach them not to pull in general. They can also be damaging if the dog does pull or if your friend needs to pull the dog away from something. Same goes for prong collars, also because these cause pain the dog can learn to associate that pain with something in their environment and become aggressive towards it. No, it doesn't happen to every dog, but to me it isn't worth the chance. The best way to solve leash pulling is to teach the dog not to pull. Here are some videos to help with that...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFgtqgiAKoQ Check out the playlist, there are a lot of videos there with a lot of great tips.

To deal with recourses guarding of toys I recommend using a second identical toy so your friend isn't reaching for the only toy. Teach the dog "drop it" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNAOe1djDyc Instead of treats (though your friend can and should work on that as well) offer the second toy to the dog. Once the dog drops the first one then throw the second. Rinse and repeat. Also if the dog growls aggressively then end the game. I would also study up on dog body language, maybe video tape this behavior as well and show it to someone who is familiar with canine body language. Some dogs do growl while playing, obviously I would err on the side of caution, but this is something to keep in mind.

[Firnenfire]

Hey guys, I own a small dog, a Manchester terrier, and she's very yappy, barking at anybody, especially dogs, who walk by the house, and any animals on TV. This would be all right, but some of my friends are scared of her because she'll follow them round the house barking. Her tail is wagging, and she's perfectly comfortable with my SO, who also gets barked at, playing with him, allowing him to pet her and even sitting with him when we're on the sofa. Does anyone know what the problem could be, and ways to get her to calm down a little?

[Imzadi83]

Hey guys, I own a small dog, a Manchester terrier, and she's very yappy, barking at anybody, especially dogs, who walk by the house, and any animals on TV. This would be all right, but some of my friends are scared of her because she'll follow them round the house barking. Her tail is wagging, and she's perfectly comfortable with my SO, who also gets barked at, playing with him, allowing him to pet her and even sitting with him when we're on the sofa. Does anyone know what the problem could be, and ways to get her to calm down a little?

This is likely a mix of anxiety (barking at door, tv, stranger in the house) and attention (pay attention to me people). I would use counter condition to desensitize her in the first regards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp_l9C1yT1g&list=PLAA6AE0ADFFBD48BC check out the playlist for videos about barking at different things.

In the second case ignore her. Have your SO and anyone else who comes over ignore her until she's quiet. Once she is quiet can have attention/petting/treats etc. Of course this works only if she is barking for attention.

If she's barking out of fear of a person coming in you may need to work with her more on her socialization. In that case have people stand still so she can sniff them and offer her a treat (they may need to gently toss it if she won't come near)

Alternately you can put a cue to the behavior of barking and subsequently teach "quiet". This allows you to put her barking on stimulus control. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vtn8NhofOw

[eff]

Hey guys, I own a small dog, a Manchester terrier, and she's very yappy, barking at anybody, especially dogs, who walk by the house, and any animals on TV. This would be all right, but some of my friends are scared of her because she'll follow them round the house barking. Her tail is wagging, and she's perfectly comfortable with my SO, who also gets barked at, playing with him, allowing him to pet her and even sitting with him when we're on the sofa. Does anyone know what the problem could be, and ways to get her to calm down a little?

It doesn't really sound like anxiety (even though it could be). Does she bark when no ones home? If anything, I'd definitely suggest it's for attention. You said she was happy, barked at anybody and any dogs and animals on the TV. Is she scared of the animals (you did say she was happy). For this, my dog did do the same (regarding the TV). I suggest finding a reinforcement word and a word to signify the dog has done something wrong whenever she barks. Refrain from using 'no' because it is a common word in society and is used often. Find a word and punish her however you mean so (e.g; say said word then lock her in a cage for a couple minutes. if she does it again, do it for a few more minutes than the prior attempt). and repeat.
For me, ignoring the dog would not help. He is stubborn and would bark for hours on end had no one put an end to it. She seems very attentive on barking, too.

[Angelus Gaston]

Hey guys, I own a small dog, a Manchester terrier, and she's very yappy, barking at anybody, especially dogs, who walk by the house, and any animals on TV. This would be all right, but some of my friends are scared of her because she'll follow them round the house barking. Her tail is wagging, and she's perfectly comfortable with my SO, who also gets barked at, playing with him, allowing him to pet her and even sitting with him when we're on the sofa. Does anyone know what the problem could be, and ways to get her to calm down a little?

It doesn't really sound like anxiety (even though it could be). Does she bark when no ones home? If anything, I'd definitely suggest it's for attention. You said she was happy, barked at anybody and any dogs and animals on the TV. Is she scared of the animals (you did say she was happy). For this, my dog did do the same (regarding the TV). I suggest finding a reinforcement word and a word to signify the dog has done something wrong whenever she barks. Refrain from using 'no' because it is a common word in society and is used often. Find a word and punish her however you mean so (e.g; say said word then lock her in a cage for a couple minutes. if she does it again, do it for a few more minutes than the prior attempt). and repeat.
For me, ignoring the dog would not help. He is stubborn and would bark for hours on end had no one put an end to it. She seems very attentive on barking, too.

Dogs can show happy signals even when anxious a wagging tail doesn't mean a happy dog and often times it shows in different ways also different tones of barks also mean different things so barking can be a sign of stress and anxiety.
Also I wouldn't use the cage as punishment its suppose to be safe a haven for dog not a tool for punishment. If you were going to do anything I would remove the dog to a different area for a few minutes till its calm then bring it back in offering a treat for calm behavior, if it happens again rinse and repeat.

You could also invest in a thunder shirt and see if that helps it helps with all kinds of anxiety.

[eff]

Sorry, but if a dog is barking at everything, it's best to isolate them in a calmer environment for a few minutes. And the owner said themselves that they were happy. If you were to picture it like your room - there can be things in there you like and so you sometimes enjoy it but you can also be sent there by your parents as a punishment. Dogs can distinguish some things just like a human can.

[Angelus Gaston]

Sorry, but if a dog is barking at everything, it's best to isolate them in a calmer environment for a few minutes. And the owner said themselves that they were happy. If you were to picture it like your room - there can be things in there you like and so you sometimes enjoy it but you can also be sent there by your parents as a punishment. Dogs can distinguish some things just like a human can.

That's just it a dogs cage is often used like a den a place to escape from stresses and its a safe place for dogs to sleep at night. Humans use the cage to teach them its a safe place to go for things like treats and often there food. Your using it as a positive thing one minute then next as a punishment a dog isn't going to want to use it if its also a punishment because your sending conflicting messages ( cage is good, cage Is bad ).
A calm place can also mean another room ( bathroom, spare bedroom, your room ) which wont mess up the cage training.

[tea!]

Hey guys, I own a small dog, a Manchester terrier, and she's very yappy, barking at anybody, especially dogs, who walk by the house, and any animals on TV. This would be all right, but some of my friends are scared of her because she'll follow them round the house barking. Her tail is wagging, and she's perfectly comfortable with my SO, who also gets barked at, playing with him, allowing him to pet her and even sitting with him when we're on the sofa. Does anyone know what the problem could be, and ways to get her to calm down a little?

It doesn't really sound like anxiety (even though it could be). Does she bark when no ones home? If anything, I'd definitely suggest it's for attention. You said she was happy, barked at anybody and any dogs and animals on the TV. Is she scared of the animals (you did say she was happy). For this, my dog did do the same (regarding the TV). I suggest finding a reinforcement word and a word to signify the dog has done something wrong whenever she barks. Refrain from using 'no' because it is a common word in society and is used often. Find a word and punish her however you mean so (e.g; say said word then lock her in a cage for a couple minutes. if she does it again, do it for a few more minutes than the prior attempt). and repeat.
For me, ignoring the dog would not help. He is stubborn and would bark for hours on end had no one put an end to it. She seems very attentive on barking, too.

Punishing a dog for showing happiness being social is not good.
It could lead her to begin hiding when others come over because she will see
it as a bad thing.

A crate should also be a positive thing for a dog, something that calms them.

[Taiger Lilly]

Still waiting on the breed results, but the health test results for Olive just updated!
I am happy to say that she is clear for all the genetic diseases Embark tests for. (this means she isn't a carrier for any as well)
The only notable result is this:

Olive has one copy of a mutation associated with reduced ALT activity as measured on veterinary blood chemistry panels. Please inform your veterinarian that Olive has this genotype, as ALT is often used as an indicator of liver health and Olive is likely to have a lower than average resting ALT activity. As such, an increase in Olive’s ALT activity could be evidence of liver damage, even if it is within normal limits by standard ALT reference ranges.

So basically it just changes the way vets should read her bloodwork.

I'm glad to see no MDR1 either, as I was a little nervous considering her suspected breeds.
She doesn't have the form of dwarfism that Embark tests for either.