Category: Behavior

Apr 21 2010

Managing Unwanted Behavior

Dog chewing on a slipper If you had a friend who was trying to give up chocolate, would you invite them into your house and then eat their favorite chocolate in front of them? If you had a friend who was in the throes of nicotine withdrawal, would you smoke in front of them? For most of us the answers to these questions would be no. Yet we seem to ignore this courtesy when it comes to our dogs and in the process forget about one of the most useful tools in preventing unwanted behaviors— simple management.

Dogs do what works for them. If chewing helps to relieve boredom, stress, teething pain, or simply the need to chew, they are going to grab whatever is available and palatable to them and chew on it. It makes no difference to them if it’s a $1000 pair of Manolo Blahniks (yes I watched Sex in the City) or a ratty, smelly, hole ridden pair of house slippers that a wife has been trying to get her husband to throw out for years.

Teaching our dogs the rules of acceptable behavior is not something that is accomplished in one or two sessions. It takes good instruction, patience, persistence, repetition, and consistency to help establish new behavior. There is one more thing that needs to be in place throughout the teaching of a new, acceptable behavior— management of opportunities to practice the old unwanted behavior.

For our purposes here, management simply means that the dog is not given any opportunity to practice the old unwanted behavior unless you are specifically ready & able to intervene and re-direct the dog towards the appropriate behavior. To some this may seem overly simplistic but it is not an easy thing to practice sometimes. Kicking off your shoes after a hard day’s work is a physical and mental reward for us and it’s something that’s done without our notice; that is until five minutes later when we’ve come back from changing out of our work clothes to find Fido happily relieving his over excitement from your arrival by going to town on those discarded shoes.

One point I would like to make here is that Fido is not to blame in this example. There is no intent behind his actions other than to got some relief or find an outlet for his energy; he simply hasn’t practiced the new behavior enough for it to replace the older hard wired one. Dogs are not devious; they are not willfully misbehaving or being spiteful regardless of how much their actions remind us of ourselves.

Remember that when we are trying to change a dog’s default behavior, any chance the dog gets to practice the old hard wired behavior without being redirected to the new acceptable behavior prolongs the time it takes to establish the behavior you want. The best way to set yourself and your dog up for faster success when learning a new behavior is to make sure the dog can’t practice the old behavior unsupervised.

Cheers,

Kevin, Jackie, Gavin, Annie, Tosha, Elbee

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3 comments - Posted by Kevin Myers at 3:38 PM - Categories: Behavior | Bringing a New Dog Home | Training

Apr 8 2010

Getting Into The Training Zone

What is the zone?

To a batter in baseball, sometimes the ball seems as large as a basketball— to a Mason laying stone, every stone he reaches for is the right one— and to a trainer working with an animal, sometimes it feels like you both speak the same language. Although originally a sports term, "being in the zone" is something that I think we have all experienced at one time or another. It is that place where everything seems to come effortlessly; a place where time is slowed, our thinking is crystal, and our actions are second nature.

The psychology of getting into the zone is a multimillion (if not billion) dollar industry and it reaches across all areas of endeavor. Sports psychologists are paid millions of dollars every year to help athletes attain this Zen like state. A quick search of "how do I get into the zone" on Google yields 317,000,000 hits for books, articles, websites, psychologists, videos, and other resources about the subject. I definitely think it is a worthwhile subject of study for us as trainers, and I'd like to share some practical things that we can do as dog trainers to help us attain this state more often.

Have a plan for the unplanned.

The best trainers know that although we often have plan for "formal" training sessions, having a plan for our impromptu sessions is also key. In reality a training "event" can last only a few seconds, knowing exactly what you are going to do when your dog jumps on you, prevents reaction on your part. Instead you will start to notice the subtle cues that precede your dog jumping up and will be able to act as if you knew it was coming (because you did).

Avoid being hyper focused on the dog.

I know this sounds like a contradiction but hear me out. Sometimes we get so locked into the dog, analyzing their body language and actions, that we forget that they are reacting to us. Be aware of your own body language and movement— remember that even the slightest change in our body posture or gestures can be a huge difference to an animal that discerns tiny movements for a living.

Hand in hand with being aware of our body language is being aware of our emotional state. While I don't agree with Cesar Milan that dogs sense energy vibrations; I do believe that they can see tension in our bodies and that they can smell changes in our body odor given off by the chemicals produced by emotions. We all feel tense, angry, and frustrated at times and avoiding training during those times will lead to more times in the zone.

Visualize your weak points as well as your good.

Many people think that visualizing anything negative is counter-productive but I strongly disagree. I have always been a person that is quick to anger. It is something that I work on constantly as I try and develop new habits to replace my old ones, but it is not something I will accomplish overnight. I have found that by visualizing unwanted responses as well as wanted responses, I am better able to deal with them; and by having more positive outcomes with these frustrating situations, both dog and trainer become reinforced and begin to trust in each other as partners.

Above all, realize that the zone is not reached by chance.

Being in the zone is not something that happens by accident, it is the result of being prepared both physically and mentally for the challenges you face when training. Through thoughtful and deliberate preparation on our part, the training zone will be reached more and more often and both we and our dogs will be the better for it.

We would love to hear your stories of training success. Tell us how you prepare to get into the training zone.

Cheers

Kevin, Jackie, Gavin, Annie, Tosha, Elbee

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5 comments - Posted by Kevin Myers at 12:52 PM - Categories: Behavior | Dog Training Tips | Dogs | Training

Apr 4 2010

Training Tips: Why Won't My Dog Come When Called?

This past week I read an excellent article on Karen Pryor's web site, http://www.clickertraining.com. The article was written by Rebecca Lynch and was entitled Poisoned Cues: The Case of the Stubborn Dog. It reminds us to first look at factors other than a dog being stubborn, when a behavior breaks down. With Spring in the air and warmer weather upon us, we will need to use the cue/command perhaps most often poisoned by us as owners— getting our dogs to come when called.

What's in it for me?
Dogs are always looking at things from the perspective of "what's in it for me?", and for many dogs the answer to that question is "nothing good" when it comes to responding to recall. Sure they get called (mostly at the same times everyday) for good things like food, walks, or perhaps a game of ball. But for many dogs, responding to recalls are more likely to make good things end instead of happen. If you were to keep a list of pro's and con's (from your dog's point of view) for responding to "Lassie come", chances are your list would look something like this:

Pros:

Got food (but many times this has the additional cues of time and words like dinner or food or eat)
Went for a walk (again cues of time and words like walk and presence of leash or walking shoes)
Got a treat (again many times your voice has changed in pitch and has become a predictor of a treat coming)

Cons:

Got my nails trimmed
Got a bath
Got patted on the head (yes some dogs put up with this but many do not like it)
Got toweled off
Went to the vets
Had to stop chasing
Had to stop smelling
Had to stop playing
Had to come inside
Had to get up from comfortable spot
Got scolded
Had to stop sniffing other dogs butt
Had to stop eating grass

It doesn't take an advanced degree in mathematics to get the point , coming when called has simply come to mean an end to fun and interesting activity— and the dog gets nothing good in return.

What needs to change?
To get our recall back we simply need to change our dogs perception of what is likely to happen when they do respond to recall. By combining treats with real life rewards we can set up a win/win situation for both us and our dogs and strengthen the recall response.

What are some ways I can build a good recall in my dog?
For instance setup a doggie play date with a friend in a controlled area. Let your dog know that you have treats (high value ones to start) and go out for the play date. When your chances for success are high (before your dog becomes too distracted, or after he is no longer so distracted) call you dog to come. If your dog comes treat them with the high value treat and your best good dog voice; and then let the dog go right back to playing (the real life reward). Do this several times over the first session, each time make sure that your dog is not so into his play session that he has no chance of responding when you call. End the session on a cheerful note when the dogs are played out and reward the same for coming to you when you end the session as the first time he responded to your call. In addition any time your dog takes a break in the play session and comes over to check in on their own, a reward is called for. Over time, as the recall becomes stronger, you can fade the food rewards but you want to make sure that you always keep the real life rewards so that the dog feels at least that they have a chance of a good outcome when they come when called.

There are dozens of everyday situations that can be setup to take advantage of training like I just described. By planning training situations like this and stacking the odds in our (and the dog's) favor, we build up the recall with each success. By changing the ratio of good things vs. bad things in favor of the good, your dog will start to become more responsive to recall and thus better your chances of getting a recall when the safety of your dog and others depend on it.

Cheers

Kevin, Jackie, Gavin, Annie, Tosha, Elbee

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Mar 24 2010

Woof Wednesday With Dr. Lorie Huston: Behavioral Medications in Dogs

Depressed looking dog on a couch. While many veterinarians, behaviorists, and trainers are familiar with using medication to treat behavioral problems in dogs, it is still something that many dog lovers are suspicious about. I have met many people who feel that using behavioral medications on dogs is unwarranted. Some feel that using medications like this is a cop out; that you are merely drugging a dog in order to avoid putting in the training necessary to deal with problem behaviors. Others feel that the veterinary & drug industries are just padding their coffers at the owners and the dogs expense. And as always there is still a stigma, even in humans about using medication for behavior issues.

Our guest this week is Dr. Lorie Huston. Dr. Huston has more than 20 years experience as a veterinarian and is well versed in the field of behavioral medications in dogs. She agreed to address some of the myths and facts surrounding behavioral medications in dogs.

DLD: What are some of the behavioral issues that medications can address?

Dr. Huston: Dogs suffer from separation anxiety, noise phobias (such as fear of thunderstorms or fireworks) and compulsive disorders of many different types. Many dogs with these types of disorders become destructive and can even create health hazards for themselves. Unfortunately, the household destruction that frequently accompanies separation anxiety and other behavioral disorders is one of the most common reasons dogs are surrendered to shelters, abandoned or euthanized outright.

The most commonly used behavioral medications, Reconcile and Clomicalm, are approved (by the FDA) for use in canine separation anxiety. However, in real world practice, they are also used for a variety of other behavioral issues, such as aggression, phobias and compulsive disorders. It is worth noting that while use of these medications to treat separation anxiety, phobias and other compulsive disorders is widely accepted their use in cases of aggression remains more controversial because of the dangers that some of our more aggressive dogs can pose to human safety. While I'm not suggesting that these aggressive dogs be abandoned or "written off", at the same time, threats to human safety are serious matters and must be properly addressed.

DLD: Aren’t these medications just a cop out? A way to say I don’t want to deal with my dog so I will just drug it?

Dr. Huston: No, these medications, if used appropriately, are far from being a "cop out". They are a means of providing relief for your dog's anxieties and making your dog more receptive to learning new life skills to replace the undesirable habits/traits. However, these drugs should never be used as a sole means of dealing with a behavioral problem. This type of usage is inappropriate and certainly could be called a "cop out". They should always be used together with a behavior modification training program designed to teach your dog to behave in an appropriate fashion to challenges in his/her life or environment. These types of behavioral modification programs require a great deal of commitment, time and effort and are definitely not a "cop out".

DLD: Are these medications the same as the ones used in humans, or are the developed specifically for dogs?

Dr. Huston: These medications are the same as those used in people. Reconcile (fluoxetine) is the same as Prozac. Clomicalm (clomipramine) is the same medication as Clopram, Clopress, Anafranil. However, these medications have been packaged in dosage sizes that are easily dosed for canine use. They are also being used in feline behavioral medicine.

Because Reconcile and Clomicalm take time to build up a blood level that is effective in relieving anxiety, other medications may be used as "rescue drugs" in situations requiring rapid anxiolytic (anxiety-reducing) effects. These medications would include drugs such as alprazolam (aka Xanax) and diazepam (aka Valium).

One medication that was commonly used in the past as a sedative but is no longer recommended in situations where anxiolytic effects are required is acepromazine. Acepromazine will sedate a dog nicely but will not calm the dog at the same time and may actually make the dog's condition worse because the dog will still be frightened but unable to react to the frightening stimuli.

DLD: When should an owner consider approaching their veterinarian about behavioral issues?

Dr. Huston: If anxiety or other behavioral disorders are affecting the quality of your dog's life or interfering with the human-animal bond between you and your dog, it is time to talk to your veterinarian about behavior modification and possibly about behavior modification drugs. Behavior modification can be accomplished in the absence of drugs as well. But for some dogs, the drugs will speed the rehabilitation by making the learning process easier for them.

DLD: Are these behavioral issues dealt with simply through medication, or are there other components?

Dr. Huston: Behavior modification training is always an essential part of using these drugs. These behavior modification training techniques take time and effort to teach. If you are unable or unwilling to pursue behavior modification training, behavior modification drugs are not appropriate.

DLD: Will using these medications require more trips to the vets office?

Dr. Huston: Your dog will need to be seen periodically for examinations and possibly even blood testing to make certain the medications are not affecting your dog in an unforeseen or undesirable way. In addition, your veterinarian will probably also need to discuss your training progress and how your dog is doing overall while on these medications. The frequency of visits will vary from one situation to another though. You should consult your veterinarian regarding how often your dog will need to be seen and/or examined

DLD: Once on a dog is on behavioral meds, is he/she on them for life?

Dr. Huston: No, the idea is to teach your dog new behaviors while receiving these medications. Once these behaviors are learned and have successfully replaced the undesirable behaviors on a regular basis, the medications are generally discontinued. It is a good idea when discontinuing medications like Reconcile and Clomicalm to gradually taper the medications rather than stopping them abruptly.

DLD: Do I need to take my dog to a specialist, or is this something all vets are familiar with?

Dr. Huston: Some veterinarians are comfortable dealing with these drugs and others are not and may refer you to a veterinary behavioral specialist. In some cases, your veterinarian may feel comfortable prescribing the medications for you but may ask you to work with a dog trainer who is experienced in behavioral modification techniques simultaneously. In almost all cases, behavioral modification training should be a positive reward-based system free of any confrontational or punitive training methods.

DLD: How can I find out more about these medications and the behavioral issues they are used for?

Dr. Huston: I have written several articles that may be helpful. Fluoxetine for Dogs, Clomipramine in Dogs, Dogs Who are Scared of Thunderstorms, Positive Reinforcement Dog Training, Separation Anxiety and Your Dog, Training Methods for Canine Seperation Anxiety.

In addition, Reconcile's website (http://www.reconcile.com/default.aspx) also has some helpful information relative to the medication itself and their recommended behavior modification training program for separation anxiety. Clomicalm also has a website (http://www.clomicalm.novartis.us/index.htm) that provides information about their product. They have a helpful FAQ's page about separation anxiety.

DLD: Why are using these medications so controversial in dogs?

Dr. Huston: I'm not sure about the answer to this question. Perhaps it is related to the stigma that is often (wrongly) associated with the use of these medications in people. Unfortunately, people requiring antidepressants or anxiolytic medications are sometimes incorrectly perceived as being "crazy" or "unstable". Perhaps it is related to the fact that many people do not like the idea of medicating or sedating their dog. Still others may not fully understand how and why these drugs are used in dogs. As stated previously, these medications are not appropriate for all pets. Owners electing to use these medications must also commit to extensive training and behavior modification for their dog. Not all pet owners are equal to these challenges. However, these medications can provide an alternative to surrendering a pet with serious behavioral issues and may, in some cases, prove to be a means of saving that dog's life by giving the dog owner options preferable to surrender or abandonment.

Dr. Lorie Huston is a veterinarian with over 20 years experience and is the author of the popular blog The Pet Health Care Gazette.

We welcome your comments and suggestions on this article. If you have other good resources of information on behavioral medications in dogs, please share them with us here.

Cheers

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Mar 20 2010

Week In Review, March 14, 2010

This past week our Woof Wednesday guest was Rod Burkert of GoPetFriendly.com. Rod and his family are on the road travelling in their new GoPetFriendly Winnebago, and you can keep up with their adventures on the GoPetFriendly Blog. This week’s Woof Wednesday guest will be Lorie Huston DVM, a veterinarian for over 20 years and the author of The Pet Health Care Gazette; Lorie and I will be discussing behavioral medications in dogs. Guests in the upcoming weeks include Sarah Kalnajs of Blue Dog Training and Behavior and Peta Clarke of Animal Training Solutions.

A point of emphasis that I always try to make when talking about the behavior of dogs is that it is our responsibility to communicate clearly with them, to train them in the behaviors we want them to display. Kelly Gorman Dunbar wrote an excellent article about this recently on Dog Star Daily entitled Change Your Perspective and Train Your Dog.

Although I worry about over anthropomorphizing when it comes to dogs, the article The Ethical Dog appearing in Scientific American Mind has some interesting observations about how dogs keep it fair when it comes to play.

And finally, Debunking the Dominance Myth by Carmen Buitrago (provided by our friend Angela Adams of Fun4Fido) deals with the continuing fallacy of laying the blame for all dog behaviors at the doorstep of dominance.

Have a great weekend and we’ll talk soon.

Cheers

Kevin, Jackie, Gavin, Annie, Tosha, Elbee

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Mar 12 2010

Your First Few Weeks With A New Dog

Great Dane on a Torn Couch Since Elbee adopted me almost two weeks ago, I am reminded of just how important our early interactions with a new dog are. After Elbee got a few meals in him, got the medicine he needed, and had some shelter over his head, he become less fearful and more curious about his new home, and a curious dog is a dog that’s ready to learn. This is the time when he is discovering the new environment he finds himself in and how he can interact with it. If I want to establish a pattern of acceptable behaviors with him, NOW is the time.

Each and every reaction I make to any of his behaviors is put away in his memory bank. He becomes aware of how to get those things he wants. For instance, Elbee was very emaciated when I found him and as a result his first couple of days with us we fed him just about every six hours. He was very vocal and very excited at each feeding and who could blame him? After a couple of days he was feeling better but he still was very vocal and over excited at feeding time. But now, instead of putting his food down for him to eat I simply waited for him to sit and be quiet. It took Elbee all of about a minute to figure out that the old rules weren’t getting him any food. You could see him looking at me and trying to work out what was different. In the end he backed up, sat quietly, and was feed. His next feeding he was just as excited, but again I waited and it only took about 30 seconds for him to sit quietly. He is still excited for his food, but it takes him less than 5 seconds or so to sit quietly and wait. I’ve taken the same approach to his tendency to jump. He still jumps occasionally, but all I have to do is back up just a bit and he immediately knows that sitting quietly is the only way to get the attention he wants.

There is really no trick to this. Because it is a new environment for him, he is really open to learning how he fits into it and what is expected of him. A sponge that will adsorb every little piece of information he can. If I take care to encourage and reinforce those behaviors I want, and to ignore those that I don’t want, I am putting money in the bank towards a great relationship with him.

I realize that there is no “one size fits all” solution to all the challenges that you may encounter when you bring a new dog into your home. But keeping these simple things in mind during the initial “break in” period, can go a long way to making your lives together easier and more enjoyable for everybody.

Cheers

Kevin, Jackie, Gavin, Annie, Tosha, Elbee

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Mar 10 2010

Woof Wednesday With Angela Adams - What Lies Beneath: Behind The Behaviour

Daschund Puppy & Books First of all I’d like to thank Kevin for inviting me to write a guest blog, and for being such a nice guy to collaborate with. So thank you Kevin.

Kevin and I decided that a good topic for a post is what really drives behaviour in dogs, and this is also a discussion I find myself having on a daily basis during the course of my work as a trainer and canine behaviour counsellor. Unfortunately all too often new clients hold the default assumption that dogs behave badly because they are dominant and seeking to attain alpha status.

Contrary to popular belief there is nothing sinister going on. So let’s take a look at what dominance is, why it is detrimental to apply it to dog behaviour, and what really is behind the behaviour of our canine companions.

Dominance defined: In ethology (the study of animal behaviour), dominance is defined as a relationship between individuals belonging to the same species (conspecifics), that is established in order to prioritise access to scarce resources, for example food, the opposite sex. Such a relationship cannot exist until one animal consistently defers to another.

Modern qualified behaviourists and trainers take issue with applying the dominance model to the dog for many reasons a few being:

Dominance theory originated from early studies of unrelated captive wolves. These studies were inaccurate and misleading because the wolves were unrelated and not in their natural environment. Studies of related wild wolves in their natural environment show a family group consisting of parents and their offspring, where the relationships are based on cooperation, with the parents guiding and teaching their young.
The dog is not a wolf; it is related to the wolf in the same way that humans are related to the chimp. Although dogs maintain some behavioural qualities of wolves and other canids, thousands of years of domestication, selective breeding, and coevolution with humans has greatly altered and shaped their behaviour.
For the past 14,000 years feral dogs have evolved as scavengers, and although sociable their existence has been semi-solitary. Where relationships are formed the associations are loose, unstructured, and changeable; members frequently come and go, a quality not seen in wolf packs. A certain degree of cooperation confers mutual benefit with fellow canines allowing for access to communal resources and shared mates. These transient relationships are based on cooperation not dominance, and the evanescent nature of these groups requires no leader or alpha. Furthermore any aggression would likely result in the perpetrator being ostracised from the group.

The dangers of the dominance model: This concept is erroneously used and sadly leads to the application of aversive tools and techniques, with the sole purpose of intimidating a dog to submit with the objective of stopping unwanted behaviours. The application of aversive techniques in training gives rise to a very serious issue of safety, for both the dog and the owner. Such techniques can push a dog into self preservation mode, “fight” or “flight” because it feels threatened or unsafe. Just as importantly such methods can potentially harm a dog’s physical and emotional/psychological well being, through pain, anxiety, frustration, fear, and high levels of stress. The fallout can result in a dog that is withdrawn, subdued, or shutdown (not “calm submissive”); because it has given up, as nothing it does works for the better. Or the result is displays of aggression because of frustration, fear, or anxiety, in this way aggression functions as a tool to create distance, make the bad thing go away or stop. However if this also fails, if we keep pushing a dog’s self preservation button, or the dog’s temperament is such that it is not able to cope with sustained frustration, anxiety, and high levels of stress, then all that is left is active aggression; a bite.

Motivation drives behaviour: All behaviour is driven by motivation, humans, dogs, cats, rabbits, rodents, horses. There is always some function, some purpose, a motivation to behaviour(s). Although there could be any number of reasons a dog may present with problem behaviour, here we will consider motivation in relation to the following categories:

Social attention and interaction: Dogs are a sociable species, we have all heard the term “It’s just attention seeking behaviour” applied to humans, but owners will often overlook this very simple explanation as a cause for many common problems behaviours. Let’s take a look at a very typical scenario. Consider this, Fido your 10 week old pup is bored, he has been used to attention and interaction on demand with his littermates. You are doing chores and Fido bounds over to you and nips your ankle, you say “No!” attention, you gently push Fido away interaction, and as you do so you look at him directly making eye contact attention. From Fido’s point of view this works, and each time this scenario is repeated, this behaviour is strengthened, and by the time Fido is 5 months this has escalated to serious problem behaviour.

Tangibles: Like humans dogs have needs, wants, preferences, and desires for certain things such as food, activities, toys, and objects etc., which provide motivation for behaviour. It is not bad for dogs to want these things it is perfectly normal. However it is all too easy for dogs to learn to display inappropriate or undesired actions to attain these things, and this is when problem behaviours can arise.

Distance, survival, escape, and/or avoidance: Many dogs are at a disadvantage because important factors such as genetics, imprinting, habituation, and socialisation, which play a vital role in shaping dogs temperament, were lacking. Such dogs are likely to develop a nervous, reactive, anxious, shy, and/or fearful disposition, coupled with poor social skills. Therefore many of these dogs will not cope well with certain everyday situations and events. They will be motivated to create distance, escape, or avoid the situation, and in extreme cases they will be quick to switch to “fight/flight” response when faced with their fears. It is important to stress that punitive training can also put dogs at a disadvantage. Fear aggression is one of the most common problem behaviours in this category. Whatever the nature of the issue, treatment should be management, remedial habituation and socialisation and training. Under no circumstances should aversive training techniques be applied. (See above: The dangers of the dominance model).

Sensory and intrinsic motivation: Various behaviours are internally rewarding, or self-reinforcing. Such behaviours are not dependent on external consequences, what is happening on the inside is important. For example, when left alone Fido barks excessively, he barks because he is bored and possibly also anxious. Barking is a sensory, self-reinforcing behaviour for Fido because it relieves him of boredom and stress, and makes him feel better. Excessive barking is annoying and distressing to the owner; however, for the dog the behaviour serves the function of helping it cope with boredom or anxiety. The behaviour of excessive barking has been adopted by Fido because it functions as a coping strategy. To help resolve this type of problem behaviour we first need to change the way Fido feels when left alone, and provide enrichment to keep Fido mentally stimulated, effectively we are changing/removing the motivators.

This should make it clear that attributing dominance to problem behaviours completely disregards the true nature of behaviour; all behaviour is driven by motivation, it has a function. Canine behaviour is as simple as it is complex; that is, certain behaviours may appear to be complex, but there is normally a simple explanation. We just need to figure out two aspects; motivation and reinforcement.

For more about Angela, you can visit her website at http://www.fun4fido.co.uk/. You can find Angela on Twitter at http://twitter.com/fun4fido, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/fun4fido/63862277241, and on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/fun4fido.

For more reading on animal behaviour, Angela reccommends the following: