Grisha Stewart's Blog

Do you love to pet your dog? Does your dog love it too? Are you sure?

Here’s a video with a way to ask your dog if he or she likes the way you are petting. I call it the 5-Second Rule, and every person who interacts with a dog, cat, or even horse should know it, because it’s excellent bite prevention and also just basic polite manners! Teaching it to children will avoid bites and also teach the concept of setting their own boundaries for safe interactions.

5 Steps for the 5-second Rule

1. Wait for the dog to interact with you, scratching the body part that is closest to you first, like the dog’s side. If the dog says no (doesn’t show signs of wanting to interact), honor that request by keeping your hands to yourself.

2. Pet for no more than 5 seconds (less if the dog is shy or not in your family)

3. WAIT. Stop and wait for the dog to turn or move toward you, asking for more.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you or your dog are done with the petting.

5. If you’re done and your dog is not, see below on the All Done hand signal.*

* All Done Signal: Your dog is not the only one who gets to say, “I’ve had enough.” You need a way to tell your dog to stop asking for petting. Luckily, you don’t have to yell or be mean, you just have to communicate clearly. For my All Done signal, for example, I show that both hands are empty and say “All Done.” After you give the signal, ignore the dog for a little bit so that the meaning of the All Done cue is clear.

Once you teach the cue, you can use it to tell your dog that you’ve noticed the request but you are not giving attention, feeding from the table, etc. It’s great for stopping begging at the table, if you are consistent.

Tips and illustrations from this video are from the Official Ahimsa Dog Training Manual. Information by Grisha Stewart, MA, and illustrations by Lili Chin.

Please join Ahimsa Dog Training for a celebration of our 10th anniversary!

When: July 13, 6-8 pm.  Please visit our new Party Page for full details on what’s happening and to RSVP!

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When I got Peanut as a puppy, he was an adorable little bundle of fur and I couldn’t bear to be without him. He was fine being alone, with his Kong, after a while, but I still had separation anxiety! He was a quick learner and we did all sorts of fun things together, like tricks and agility, where he ran fast and even beat the full border collies. A silhouette of his ‘sit pretty’ trick was the first logo for Ahimsa Dog Training in 2003.

At 10 years old, Peanut’s officially a senior, but he still loves to play along with my clicker games. For example, we recently worked together to teach him to climb up on the bed using a stool, instead of just flying onto the bed. Why? Well, he’s getting older. Sometimes he doesn’t fly onto the bed so much as fly to the bed and then unceremoniously get dumped back onto the floor. Less mobility is a part of aging, and part of what I signed on for when I got a puppy. That said, it sucks to see him hurting and I do whatever I can to help his body work better. For example, I’ll be taking him to Lori Stevens’ seminar on Senior Dogs on July 13. Lori has a great understanding of canine physiology and mental states, too. She is as close to a miracle worker as you can get in real life, so I can’t wait!

The upside of Peanut aging is that he snuggles more, he takes everything in more slowly, and he looks at me longer with his beautiful, soulful eyes. I have always lived more in the moment when I am with him and we work together like we can read minds (we can’t), but now our time together takes on an even more special tone. Every day could be our last together and I savor our time together all the more because it is fleeting. I’m hoping for another 5 years, maybe even 50 (a girl can dream). That said, I can’t count on that time, so I consider time to be precious.

Now that he’s a senior dog, I am grateful that I always used force-free training throughout his life. I don’t have to look at him and say that I’m sorry for mistreating him. Yes, of course, I have made some mistakes along the way, but he’s never been popped, jerked, or thrown around. And now he has more freedom and choices than most dogs in the care of humans, because of his training with BAT and my paying attention to his needs.

Peanut was the original BAT dog and, ironically, that means I am not home enough for him. I travel a lot for BAT seminars, and am doing my best to get back home to my canine soulmate as soon as I can. Fortunately, he’s in good hands while I’m gone, but yes, I still have separation anxiety. That seemed to ebb away when he was in his middle years, but now it is back in full force.

p.s. Give your (senior) dog a scritch for me. By now, you probably know all of his or her favorite spots.

p.p.s. If you have a senior dog and live near Seattle (or can fly in), you should check out Lori Stevens’ talk on July 13, 2013: “TTouch® and More for Your Senior Dog.” You can come with or without your dog. We have limited spaces left for attendees with dogs. Peanut and I will see you there (or at the free 10 year anniversary party for Ahimsa from 6-8 on July 13, which I will probably go to without Peanut).

p.p.p.s. If you love a senior dog of your own, please post about him/her in the comments.

We received this letter from a Puppy Camp student and I was thrilled to hear about puppy camp achieving exactly what I had hoped when we began it last year. We get thank you notes all the time from students (yay!) but this was so detailed and clear that I asked Dana for permission to share it on our website. Note: I also added in some links, but otherwise, this is Dana’s original email. It’s especially valuable feedback, because Dana is a Ph.D. clinical psychologist!

*****

Dear Grisha,

My French Bulldog puppy, Babette, has been a grateful Puppy Camp student for eight weeks. I wanted to drop a note to make sure you are aware of what amazing work is going on there. I really cannot imagine how Babette’s development would have played out had it not been for Frank, Amber and Katie.

Babette came to me as an extremely shy puppy; too anxious to participate in Kindergarten. She trembled on my lap, refused peanut butter smeared on a plate, averted her gaze when puppies came near. Amber suggested we try puppy camp and assured me of their experience with and affection for shy dogs.

Then I watched in amazement as day by day, Amber, Frank and Katie socialized my fearful puppy. They worked with exquisite patience and obvious expertise. Here’s how Babette looked on Day 2 of Puppy Camp, being rewarded for simply being calm:

Frank and Babette

Babette progressed from peeking at the other puppies from behind a divider, to a curious but skittish visitor as they were tethered, to acknowledging the other puppies then running away, to nose greetings and sniffs, to tentative play. Now she is an exuberant (but gentle) playmate who can initiate play, respect cut-off signals, paw spar and chase. The Ahimsa trainers have been just awesome. Wynona even brought over a younger, shy puppy for Babette to “mentor.”

It is absolutely, positively clear to me that I could not have accomplished this on my own. I’m tremendously impressed with Amber, Frank and Katie’s professionalism; with the depth of their knowledge about positive training and doggie psychology. If you’ll pardon my language — they know their shit, and it shows.

After four weeks of Puppy Camp, Babette could play with other puppies in Amber’s Kindergarten class:

Babette playing!

I have also really appreciated how organized and sane the Puppy Camp experience has been. I was asked for my goals each week and could see they were working towards them. I had report cards each day that helped me understand what Babette was learning and how I could build on that. Katie, Frank and Amber were able to answer every question. They were graceful in the face of transition back from the Annex to the classrooms then back again. They run a tight ship (and a clean one.) They demonstrate abundant support for the owners and tenderness towards all the puppies in their care. It was a privilege to be a part of Ahimsa Puppy Camp.

Now, after Puppy Camp, Babette has achieved DoggieZen:

Babette in a zen moment

I had an unsocialized rescue dog for a short time [Ahimsa note: this was another dog that was showing too much aggression and had to be returned to the rescue], so I know what the consequences could look like without Puppy Camp. Babette and I are most grateful!

Sincerely Yours,

Dana

We have some very important changes going on around here! In last weekend of April, we will move all of our classes into the bigger training classroom that we recently added to Ahimsa.  In other words, the ‘annex’ will now be our base of operations.

STORE

In order to move the store into the big building, we would have needed to do some construction to set aside space for the retail area and storage of all the items. That would have left us with a smaller classroom and we want to have lots of space and be able to focus on our classes. We will close our retail store in Seattle in March.

If you are in Seattle, stop by for our 40% off of all products. After March, our training center will still carry print copies of the BAT book, the Ahimsa manual, and some treats (in case students forget theirs). The trainers will be able to take cash/check only, so please remember those for play times or shopping once the official store closes.

In the online store at http://doggiezen.com/store we will continue to carry our favorite ebooks and other digital products, but will no longer be shipping products (except for orders already placed). In the near future, that site will have links to where to get some of our recommended dog supplies, both locally and online.

CLASSES

We will have Puppy Class, a new Puppy Elementary School, Puppy Jr. High, Basic Manners, Intermediate Manners, Advanced Manners, Backyard Sports and Games, Control Unleashed, Growly Dog class, and BAT clinic, as well as our free weekly Intro to Dog Training (orientation) seminar. Our trainers are Adriane, Wynona, Rachel, Amber, and Frank. We will also still have private lessons.

If you were in our agility program, we recommend the Seattle Humane Society’s classes in Bellevue. The fab Ali Johnson was teaching agility with us and she continues to teach classes at SHS. We will be selling most of the agility equipment, but keeping some for our Backyard Sports and Games class. We will have a list of available equipment and pricing soon. It will include the super-fancy rubberized dog walk and teeter, as well as tunnels, jumps, weaves, etc. Everything is in great condition, as we purchased it only last year and kept everything indoors. Email frank@doggiezen.com with the subject line ‘agility equipment’ if you are interested in the sale.

PUPPY CAMP

Amber and Frank will be continuing the great service of puppy camp. The cost has been dropped to $269 for this service. It’s an excellent way to provide excellent opportunities for socialization that you just can’t do on your own. Plus it let’s you socialize and train your puppy without as much effort from you!

SEMINARS for DOG TRAINERS

We will have some more excellent seminars for dog trainers and dog enthusiasts on our schedule soon. Right now, we have Lori Stevens teaching a workshop for senior dogs in July (how to keep them feeling young, basically, using TTouch, massage, creative strength training, etc.) and a weekend on science and behavior analysis with Dr. Susan Friedman next summer.

Visit http://doggiezen.com/workshop for details. You can also sign up for a hands-on 5-day instructor’s course on BAT in Pennsylvania (April) or Alaska (August) on that page.

****

Please be pardon our dust and be patient with us as we make changes to the website and training center in Ballard. The store is being liquidated and there are bound to be a few bumps along the way.

We will have classes as scheduled until April 26. Starting the last weekend of April, our address will be 925 NW 49th Street, Suite C, which is just across the street from our old training center. We will miss the brilliant team members that will be moving on: Ali M., Tomi, Jennifer, Jill, and Ali J. You may see some of the more passionate ones in your classes as volunteers. Change is challenging, but I think this will be a good move for our clients, as we get back to our core: training family dogs in humane and effective ways (and trying to have fun at the same time).

We’ll continue to have trainers answering your dog (and cat) questions on the radio on Sundays from 1-3 pm on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, so please listen in (the online version has a lot fewer commercials, so we recommend listening that way). Click here to learn more about Raining Cats and Dogs.

We are completely excited to announce that our radio show on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM starts next week! We also have other great January happenings, so please read on.

1. Best of Seattle

We may not have actually shared this news yet, so… Thanks to your votes last fall, Ahimsa Dog Training was second place in the Best of Western Washington contest–first among the training facilities in the Seattle area. So thank you!!

2. January is Train Your Dog Month

In honor of Train Your Dog Month, we are giving shelters and other official non-profit organizations (including flyball and obedience clubs, etc.) a 30% discount on the book, “The Official Ahimsa Dog Training Manual: A Practical, Force-Free Guide to Problem Solving & Manners.” If you got your dog from a shelter, consider giving back by donating a copy of this book (although you might check with them first to see if they have it, as the very first thing we did this month was give away 150 copies of the book to shelters and other non-profits). Info is at http://functionalrewards.com/free-boo...

3. “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs” Radio Show

Grisha, Adriane, and Wynona will be representing Ahimsa as co-hosts of the new show, “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs!” This show will air on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM on Sundays in Seattle, but will be available via streaming anywhere in the world. Adriane, Wynona, Grisha, and another trainer (Joey Iversen) will take turns co-hosting with radio personality Shawn Stewart. Please call in with your questions or post them on the contact page for the show (soon there will be a Facebook page so you can facebook your questions). http://www.Mynorthwest.com/pets

4. New Workshops: Puppy Survival and Dog Aggression 101

If you haven’t trained for a while, get back in the game! Teach your dog some new tricks using the skills we taught you in class, or come sharpen up your skills even more by joining us for a class or workshop. We have two great new workshops, in addition to Jumping Up, Possession Aggression, Come Here!, Bravery Boost, and Walking, Puppy Survival is a free screening of Grisha’s “Give Your Puppy a Choice” DVD, followed by a Q&A on puppy issues with a trainer. The Dog Aggression 101 workshop is a great first step in the journey toward helping your reactive dog act ‘normal’ again.

Info on the workshops is at http://ahimsadogtraining.com/class/se... and information on classes is at http://ahimsadogtraining.com/class/

5. North to Alaska

Ahimsa’s owner, Grisha Stewart, moved to Alaska last month, but she uses technology to continue to supervise the great work done here at Ahimsa. She will also be stopping off in Seattle when she flies to give seminars to other trainers around the world. Adriane Villanueva (manager) and Ali Messinger (assistant manager) are here to assist you if you have any questions or concerns. They have been successfully managing Ahimsa all year, with Grisha traveling for seminars, so it’s not actually a giant change to have Grisha living in Alaska. (For Ahimsa, that is…Grisha’s dog, Peanut, now has to wear a coat and booties for his walks!)

6. New illustrations for the Ahimsa Manual

The Official Ahimsa Dog Training Manual: Force-Free Problem Solving and Training’ has a brand new set of illustrations! We have also cleaned up some typos for this version and clarified a few points. Lili Chin is the illustrator for the Ahimsa Manual and Grisha’s other book, Behavior Adjustment Training. For info on all of Grisha’s books and DVDs, visit http://ahimsadogtraining.com/store/pr... and to see a chapter preview of the Ahimsa Manual, see http://ahimsadogtraining.com/store/pr...

7. . Did you know?

If you see a dog in a yellow harness, collar, or leash, or see any other yellow on the dog (like a ribbon), that means the dog needs space from people and/or other dogs and you should avoid them (in heat, scared, sick, aggressive, jumpy, in training, etc.). This is a new rule that is taking hold all around the world. Please share it with your dog friends and all people, really, because they may come into contact with dogs. Here is some information about the international Yellow Dog Project: http://theyellowdogproject.com

p.s. We have yellow harnesses and leashes in our store!

p.p.s. If you are a trainer who is interested in a tax-deductible trip to Alaska this summer, take a look at the 5-day BAT Instructor’s course in Anchorage: http://doggiezen.com/class/batinstruc... Or for something more exotic, try Portugal next month: http://doggiezen.com/class/specialeve...

Check out this interview about Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) with dog trainer Victoria Stilwell from the Animal Planet TV show “It’s Me or the Dog.”  The interview with Ahimsa’s owner, Grisha Stewart, is just over 5 minutes. It starts at 22:40 and goes to about 36:00.

Grisha developed Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) for dogs with reactivity issues. We use it in several dog classes at Ahimsa in Seattle, From Growly Dog classes to private lessons to puppy kindergarten.

Some of what Victoria said about BAT in the interview: “This is a positive dog training technique… And it’s not all happy clappy and it’s not just about stuffing food in your dog’s face. It’s about giving your dog what it needs to be successful in this crazy domestic world with us….You’re working along with the dog. I think that’s crucial. So people, if you are out there and you have a question….about how to deal with reactive dogs… you’re going to get better results from doing techniques like the BAT technique. I’ve seen it done, I’ve done it myself, I’ve seen it on videos and Grisha’s DVDs, I’ve heard about it from trainers all over the world who use it. This is a great technique and this is something else that you can do with your reactive dog to help it cope with the world around it.” (our emphasis)

Happy New Year! Here are some FIREWORKS tips. These are my recommendations for dogs and puppies who have never heard fireworks or dogs who are already scared of them:

0. (too late for this right now, but do it at least a few weeks before the net set of fireworks…get a sound desensitization CD and get your dog used to the noises using the recording and the protocol below).

But here’s what you can do right now:

Stay home, don’t go out dancing and leave your pup to suffer.
Play calming music or watch television
Have a container of fabulous treats in reach (so you don’t have to jump up to get them). Toys are also a good choice for dogs who love toys more than steak.
Whenever a firework goes off, close your eyes, breathe out calmly, grab a treat and give it to your dog (you may have to open your eyes for this). Feel free to toss a handful of treats on the floor. If it’s a toy, you can throw it. Do this every time there’s a boom and if the noise is long, just keep calmly tossing out treats.
During and after the treat tossing, visualize your most pleasant memory/fantasy in great detail. It can be rated G, like thinking about world peace or the taste of chocolate on your tongue, but it doesn’t have to be.

The visualization step is important. I don’t think I’ve heard it suggested elsewhere, but it really helps my dog Peanut. It can also really help to actually do normal things, like lie down for a nap, wash dishes, talk on the phone, do yoga, etc. (Thanks to Kathy Seube for the reminder!)

Other tips: put on an Anxiety Wrap or Thundershirt a while before the fireworks start. This should not be your dog’s first use of such a wrap (otherwise they will associate the wrap with the noises, which is bad). Use Happy Traveler or some other herbal anti-stress medication, have calming oils in the room, like lavender…

If you have enough time before the fireworks play in your area, you can play a sound CD of fireworks at low low volume in the morning and gradually raise the volume during the day. Then by the time the real fireworks come, your dog will just think it’s part of the CD.

If you really must go out,

Take a long walk to exercise your dog before you go so that he is likely to be asleep.
Leave him with music and/or television on.
Leave him with a full food puzzle (or several) for him to enjoy while you are gone. If you have a Kong, you can freeze it with food or if you don’t have time to prepare that, put melted cheese in it to make it last a while. Melting cheese in a glass container that you transfer to the Kong is ideal, but you can put a 1-inch cube of cheese into the Kong, microwave for 20 seconds, and swirl it around to get it coated with cheese. Cool off before giving to the dog.



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3-day sale! Use the code happyholidays to save 25% on product orders over $25 in Seattle and in our online store. This includes the new Ahimsa Dog Training Manual, BAT products like books and DVDs, harnesses, other authors’ books, leashes, toys, etc. check out the Bat Toy!

The last day of the sale is also the last day that we will guarantee delivery by Christmas in the US for in-stock items.

Worried about delivery? We have ebooks!

Note that this coupon is for products only.

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If you have a dog in Seattle, you were probably freaked out by the news that adult dogs were getting parvo. I spoke with ACCES hospital manager Don Wirenga (ACCES was the hospital that recently reported an increase in parvo cases) about this issue.

He mentioned that the increase in cases was “significant, but it is not an epidemic.” The dogs who were sick were all treated and survived, and they seemed to have an incomplete vaccination history. So the vaccination probably would have protected them.

The good news is that it does not appear to be a new strain, although they are sending the culture out for testing. The number of cases has dropped back down to normal.

I asked him about puppy class recommendations and it does not seem to be different from what it always has been, so that is good news. His advice was to balance out the need for socialization with the need for health safety. The incubation period for parvo is usually 4-7 days but can be up to 12 days. So he recommends that you have your puppy for 12 days before starting classes, to be sure you are not bringing a sick dog into class.

At Ahimsa Dog Training we clean the floors nightly with a virucide that is effective against parvo and other things dogs can catch. Puppies are the first ones in, so the rooms are as clean as they can be for classes. Clean classrooms are “better than public high traffic areas” according to Wirenga, and I agree. Puppies must have at least 2 sets of vaccines for higher traffic areas (more for high risk breeds like rotties, pitties, dobes). But his rule of thumb was having your puppy for 12 days before class and at least the first set of shots.

Early socialization is critical to help puppies learn to avoid aggression, fear, and other issues, so even though it may seem safer to just keep your puppy at home through all sets of shots, it is not. Behavior issues are also a huge killer of dogs, so please be safe and balance socialization with medical safety.

I also spoke to Kara Main-Hester, Ph,D. at the Seattle Animal Shelter and she had this to say, “In general, Dr. Hopkins with Public Health hasn’t seen a significant up-tick in the area, though it’s not something that requires reporting. Honestly, people just need to vaccinate and keep their puppies out of dog parks.  Puppy playgroups at facilities that have good cleaning protocols is the only safe way to introduce a less-than-fully vaccinated puppy to the world.”

For more info from ACCES is at http://www.criticalcarevets.com/blog/parvovirus-%E2-update