Introducing Dog to Twins

Dear CGC,

I have a 3-year old Yorkie named Princess (who has always been our baby). We just found out we have twin boys on the way. How do I get Princess ready for the new babies and how do I make sure they are safe around her?   Princess has always been a little possessive of me so I’m kind of worried.  Do you have any advice?

CGC ANSWER:  First of all, congratulations on your twins! This will be such an exciting time in your life. Here are some tips for ensuring that Princess and the new babies have a happy, healthy relationship.

1. Training:  Ideally, as soon as parents-to-be know that a baby will be coming into the family, if it hasn’t been done before, the canine family member should be provided with some training. Behaviors such as sit, down, stay, and “back up” are very helpful when it comes to managing a dog around your new infants.

2. Getting to Know You:  When the babies arrive in the hospital, before they come home, have a family member bring home a blanket or shirt from the babies so that Princess can become familiar with their scents.

3. Establish the Rules:  Before the twins come home, think about if you need to work on any changes with regard to Princess. For example, if she is sleeping in your bed, now is the time to introduce her to her own brand new bed if you’re planning on giving Princess a different place to sleep.

4. Introduce the Dog to Baby items:  The babies will have new swings, rocking seats, and toys. As soon as possible, show Princess the new items so that she has seen the swing moving before there is a baby in it, and she knows what it means when you say “Leave it!” when it comes to baby toys.

5. Get Ready for Crying:   If Princess is sound-sensitive and you think she may be nervous when the babies cry, you can expose her to crying baby sounds via a CD. Starting with quieter cries, you can gradually crank up the sound until Princess is a pro at listening to a wailing baby…or two.  See www.preparingfido.com for a baby-sounds CD.

6. Dog Meets Baby:  Princess will be curious and anxious to meet the new members of his family. To make sure she doesn’t jump on you when you come home from the hospital, it is a good idea for you to get in the room and be sitting when Princess comes in to meet the twins for the first time.  If she is a very active dog, have a helper bring Princess into the room on a leash and praise her for being calm and well-behaved.

7. Maintain the Dog’s Exercise and Play:  Whenever there are not one, but two new babies, it is common for all of the attention to be on them. Make sure Princess still gets daily exercise and play sessions. This is extremely important for having a calm, mellow dog. If you just can’t do it all, consider getting a temporary personal assistant for Princess. There might be a neighborhood teenager who would be happy to take a dog for a walk and play with her.

Finally, the AKC Canine Good Citizen Responsible Dog Owners Pledge advises that children and dogs should always be supervised when together.

Train the Queen’s Corgi

For dog trainers who want to learn more about operant conditioning, here are 2 products with which you can train a virtual animal.

1. Sniffy the Rat

This product is tried and true. For years, Sniffy the Virtual Rat has been used in university psychology classes to teach the principles of operant conditioning.

Users begin by training Sniffy to press a bar to obtain food. Then, they progress to studies of more complex learning phenomena. The Lite version of Sniffy includes 16 exercises that cover the essential phenomena of learning psychology.

To learn more about Sniffy, see:

http://www.wadsworth.com/psychology_d/special_features/sniffy.html

The actual product:

http://www.cengage.com/search/productOverview.do?Ntt=sniffy+the+rat||81248358917362401493211199451909937835&N=11&Ntk=all%7C%7CP_EPI

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2. Train the Queen’s Dog

I have to admit I haven’t tried this one yet, but it is being advertised as the first app to teach a person how to train a dog. Created for the Queen of England’s Diamond Jubilee (not her birthday, it means she has been on the throne for 60 years), ARworks has a free iPhone and iPad app that lets you train the Queen’s Corgi. If you’re skilled enough, you can teach the Royal Virtual Dog complex tasks such as saluting the Queen.

For more info, see: www.myroyalcorgi.com

Domestic Dogs: A Wolf in Dog’s Clothing?

 

The idea that dogs descended from wolves is not correct.

While many dog trainers may have once believed this to be true, the science is in. Dogs didn’t evolve from wolves.

In order to keep my behavioral skills up to par, I spend every Memorial Day weekend at the Association for Behavioral Analysis International (ABAI) conference. Yesterday, I attended a great presentation, “Behavioral Genetics and the Evolution of the Domestic Dog,”  by Dr. James Ha.

Dr. Ha reminded attendees that dogs did not descend from wolves, but rather, wolves and dogs descended from a common ancestor. Also related to that common ancestor are the Golden Jackal and Coyote.

Photo:  (L-R)  Siberian Husky, Coyote, Golden Jackal, and Gray Wolf.

Memorial Day

 

First celebrated on May 30, 1868, to honor fallen Civil War soldiers,  Memorial Day is  a day on which we honor Americans who have died in wars.

To the brave humans and canines who gave their lives, we thank you.

Follow-up Diabetic Alert Dogs

There were some great comments on the post about the Diabetic Alert Dogs (D.A.D.)

* One dog wakes up her owner at 2 to 3 am if the owner’s blood sugar drops to a low level while she sleeps.

* Another dog alerts a little girl that her blood sugar level is a problem  30 to 40 minutes ahead of the blood sugar meter detecting it.

* Several dogs were reported to alert their humans so they can correct low blood sugar levels before the problem is serious.

* An 8 year old’s Diabetic Alert Dog signals her high and low blood sugar throughout the day.

2012 AKC/USA Agility World Team Announced

Congratulations to everyone!

SMALL DOGS (all of the small dogs are Shetland Sheepdogs)

Laura Dolan     NAC Bare Cove Tri to Keep Up MX MXJ NF “Race”

Dee Anna Gamel  NAC MACH9 Hilltop Kelsi Lee Kinsella “Kelsi”

Denise Kilpatrick  MACH3 Plail’s Catch Me If Ewe Can PT XF “Tyler”

Marcy Mantell      NAC MACH7 Plail’s Few and Far Between CDX RN PT MXF TQX “ Wave”

Alternate – Barbara Davis   MACH Jahdo Skechers at Strathspey XF “Skecher”

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MEDIUM DOGS (Ashley Deacon’s “Luka” is a  Pyrenean Shepherd; the other Medium dogs are Shetland Sheepdogs)

Ashley Deacon   NAC MACH3 Luka De La Brise “Luka”

Laurene Galgano   MACH18 Karefree Ticket To Ride FTC1 TQX T2B2 “Token”

Jean Lavalley    MACH2 Taylormade Cheer For Me XF

John Nys      NAC CH MACH5 Bare Cove Blu Lite Special “Rush”

Alternate – Maureen Waldron    MACH4 Plails It’s All About Me! MXF TQX “Mickle”

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LARGE DOGS (all of the large dogs are Border Collies)

Silvinia Bruera   MACH Ni-C-Era High Tech TCAM “TCAM”

Channan Fosty  MACH4 Hob Nob Cult Classic MXF “Icon”

Daisy Peel   NAC MACH4 Super Sun OF “Solar”

Tori Self   NAC MACH Sagehill’s Change the World MX MXJ OF “Rev”

Alternate – Terry Smorch    MACH4 Hob Nob Up Tempo Night Flight MXF TQX “Presto”

 

Diabetic Alert Service Dogs

Most people are aware that there are service dogs for people who are blind, have autism or seizures, but did you know there are also Diabetic Alert dogs?

Common early warning signs of low blood sugar that is associated with diabetes are sweating, shaking, nausea, feeling faint and confusion.

However, many diabetics don’t feel these symptoms and they are unaware that their blood sugar is dropping or has become dangerously low.

A Diabetic Alert Service Dog is trained to alert alert a human partner that his or her blood sugar is too low or too high.

Have you heard of Diabetic Alert Service Dogs or have you seen one?