Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[tikay]

Morning Mr Red.

With all that negative talk about dogs on another thread I thought I would share this little snippet with you.

I take part in a lot of psychology experiments at the university, many of which are dull but sometimes an interesting one comes along. The latest study consisted of looking at various pictures on a computer screen for 20 minutes. Nothing interesting happened during it but in the debrief afterwards they told me the following. Whilst looking at the pictures they were using software to track the movements of my eyes to see how I looked at the pictures. They then told me they had done similar tests with animals and found that dogs look at a human face in almost exactly the same way we do, more than any other animal. How cool is that!

It was only on reflection afterwards that I thought of 2 questions I would have liked to ask. Have they tested dolphins, or wolves?

Eye contact is a huge thing with dogs.

Assuming your dog sees you as the Alpha male, (Which of course all dogs should do) he will watch you all the time, but he will be very careful about making prolonged eye contact, especially if you are eating or interacting with another family member. (Who, BTW, he should also be subservient to.)

If, on the other hand, you are interacting with him, he will feel comfortable looking directly at you.

Morning Tom.

I've been thinking about that Post since the moment I saw it.

I understand the Alpha male stuff, but could you explain in more detail the parts I have italicised, & especially the enboldened part, please?

Why is extra care needed when we are interacting with another family member?

Not really connected, but as a kid, I remember my first dog, & I often stared her down, knowing it seemed to make her uncomfortable. I don't know why I still did it, but I did. Kids do weird things.  

Morning Tony.

Dogs are pack animals and the eye contact thing is just bog standard pack behaviour.

In the wild every dog in the pack will know his place in the pecking order. The Alpha male can and will assert his dominance by staring down any other pack member. The lower ranking dog must acknowledge this by averting his gaze, or face the consequences.

Dog B can stare at dog C and all the other dogs except dog A and so on.

When a higher ranking dog is eating he is even more tetchy about his status than usual, the same applies when two higher ranking dogs are indulging in any kind of mating or bonding ritual.

A well brought up family pet dog should consider himself out ranked by all the other (human) family members and behave accordingly.


In some situations, especially when you are interacting with your dog, perhaps petting or training him, the eye contact rule is relaxed, as it would be in the wild during bonding sessions, while at play or when hunting.

Ahh, got it now, thanks.

I used to do two cruel things to my pet dogs when I was a kid. I never realised they were cruel at the time of course, but as I said before, kids do weird things. 

1) I would stare, make sustained eye contact with my dog, & she clearly hated it, & would turn away after a second or two & whimper, show discomfort.

2) Don't ask, but.......I would gently blow air in the direction of her nose from close range, just gently, through pursed lips, & that would make her go a bit mad, barking, even nipping me. She could not abide it. (Bad breath maybe...). It only puzzled me because if you allow a dog to travel in the car, with the window open enough to get their head outside, into the oncoming wind, they seem to love it. 

[Tal]

In summary, dogs am great.

[kinboshi]

From Dara O Briain's Science Club last week:



Rats show the ability of 'mental time travel', something that was previously thought to be restricted to humans by many.

[Laxie]

Hiya Tom.  We have a doggy problem.  I've said Fib needs to get the snip, but Jack wants us to ask you before we jump the gun.

The boys and I meet up with another dog owner and their two labs every morning at the park.  It's been great for socialising the boys and they love to meet up with the other dogs for a run around.  We throw a ball to keep them busy and they're given treats at the end of the walk.  So far so good. 

Except that lately, Fib has taken to running off for no apparent reason.  He'll be mid play with the other dogs, look off into the distance...and then just goes.  There isn't even another dog (or a cat) where's he's been looking and no amount of shouting his name or blowing the whistle will get him to stop once he's off.  He doesn't usually stop until he's gone out of the park and down the street which has us worried about him being run down by a car one of these days.

He's mostly good when we take him down the country lanes and doesn't get too far ahead.  He'll usually return without hassle too when I call him or blow the whistle down the lane, so I don't know why the park has become a free for all. 

Archie stays put with me.  It's just Fib who's gone loopy.  He's definitely got a screw loose anyway, but not in a nasty way.  He's just a bit dippy, bless.  Is there anything I can do to break him of this new party piece in the park?  He's just over a year old now.  Help!  xx

[kinboshi]

Hiya Tom.  We have a doggy problem.  I've said Fib needs to get the snip, but Jack wants us to ask you before we jump the gun.

The boys and I meet up with another dog owner and their two labs every morning at the park.  It's been great for socialising the boys and they love to meet up with the other dogs for a run around.  We throw a ball to keep them busy and they're given treats at the end of the walk.  So far so good. 

Except that lately, Fib has taken to running off for no apparent reason.  He'll be mid play with the other dogs, look off into the distance...and then just goes.  There isn't even another dog (or a cat) where's he's been looking and no amount of shouting his name or blowing the whistle will get him to stop once he's off.  He doesn't usually stop until he's gone out of the park and down the street which has us worried about him being run down by a car one of these days.

He's mostly good when we take him down the country lanes and doesn't get too far ahead.  He'll usually return without hassle too when I call him or blow the whistle down the lane, so I don't know why the park has become a free for all. 

Archie stays put with me.  It's just Fib who's gone loopy.  He's definitely got a screw loose anyway, but not in a nasty way.  He's just a bit dippy, bless.  Is there anything I can do to break him of this new party piece in the park?  He's just over a year old now.  Help!  xx

Maybe he's just after some peace and quiet?

[EvilPie]

Hiya Tom.  We have a doggy problem.  I've said Fib needs to get the snip, but Jack wants us to ask you before we jump the gun.

The boys and I meet up with another dog owner and their two labs every morning at the park.  It's been great for socialising the boys and they love to meet up with the other dogs for a run around.  We throw a ball to keep them busy and they're given treats at the end of the walk.  So far so good. 

Except that lately, Fib has taken to running off for no apparent reason.  He'll be mid play with the other dogs, look off into the distance...and then just goes.  There isn't even another dog (or a cat) where's he's been looking and no amount of shouting his name or blowing the whistle will get him to stop once he's off.  He doesn't usually stop until he's gone out of the park and down the street which has us worried about him being run down by a car one of these days.

He's mostly good when we take him down the country lanes and doesn't get too far ahead.  He'll usually return without hassle too when I call him or blow the whistle down the lane, so I don't know why the park has become a free for all. 

Archie stays put with me.  It's just Fib who's gone loopy.  He's definitely got a screw loose anyway, but not in a nasty way.  He's just a bit dippy, bless.  Is there anything I can do to break him of this new party piece in the park?  He's just over a year old now.  Help!  xx

Hope you don't mind me stepping in when you addressed your post to Tom.

What you have here isn't a bollock problem, it's a recall problem.

You need to start his recall training again from scratch. The worst thing you can possibly do with recall is this:

"no amount of shouting his name or blowing the whistle will get him to stop once he's off"

If he doesn't respond to his recall then doing it more and more just teaches him that he can ignore it without any consequence.

You need to build his recall again when there are no distractions. Recall training should be continuous, I make a habit of recalling Ronnie at least 20 times every time he's off lead. That way it becomes habit that when he hears me whistle he just comes back.

The best time to train recall is when he's doing nothing. It's best because you know he'll come back. There's nothing of higher value happening than returning to you so he might as well do it. When he comes back give him a treat or play with his toy or whatever is his favourite motivation.

Just make sure you practice it again and again and again......

If he runs off recall him once. If he doesn't return or even glance back then you should be shouting "NO" to him so he knows he's doing wrong. Don't keep using his recall command as he's running away, all that does is teach him that your recall actually means 'run away'

Hope that helps a bit.

[RED-DOG]

Hiya Tom.  We have a doggy problem.  I've said Fib needs to get the snip, but Jack wants us to ask you before we jump the gun.

The boys and I meet up with another dog owner and their two labs every morning at the park.  It's been great for socialising the boys and they love to meet up with the other dogs for a run around.  We throw a ball to keep them busy and they're given treats at the end of the walk.  So far so good. 

Except that lately, Fib has taken to running off for no apparent reason.  He'll be mid play with the other dogs, look off into the distance...and then just goes.  There isn't even another dog (or a cat) where's he's been looking and no amount of shouting his name or blowing the whistle will get him to stop once he's off.  He doesn't usually stop until he's gone out of the park and down the street which has us worried about him being run down by a car one of these days.

He's mostly good when we take him down the country lanes and doesn't get too far ahead.  He'll usually return without hassle too when I call him or blow the whistle down the lane, so I don't know why the park has become a free for all. 

Archie stays put with me.  It's just Fib who's gone loopy.  He's definitely got a screw loose anyway, but not in a nasty way.  He's just a bit dippy, bless.  Is there anything I can do to break him of this new party piece in the park?  He's just over a year old now.  Help!  xx

Hope you don't mind me stepping in when you addressed your post to Tom.

What you have here isn't a bollock problem, it's a recall problem.

You need to start his recall training again from scratch. The worst thing you can possibly do with recall is this:

"no amount of shouting his name or blowing the whistle will get him to stop once he's off"

If he doesn't respond to his recall then doing it more and more just teaches him that he can ignore it without any consequence.

You need to build his recall again when there are no distractions. Recall training should be continuous, I make a habit of recalling Ronnie at least 20 times every time he's off lead. That way it becomes habit that when he hears me whistle he just comes back.

The best time to train recall is when he's doing nothing. It's best because you know he'll come back. There's nothing of higher value happening than returning to you so he might as well do it. When he comes back give him a treat or play with his toy or whatever is his favourite motivation.

Just make sure you practice it again and again and again......

If he runs off recall him once. If he doesn't return or even glance back then you should be shouting "NO" to him so he knows he's doing wrong. Don't keep using his recall command as he's running away, all that does is teach him that your recall actually means 'run away'

Hope that helps a bit.

I've written extensively about recall issues in the past, but I have to say thanks to Matt for saving me the trouble of doing it again. His advice is excellent, I couldn't agree more.

[tikay]

Matt and Tom can both feel re-assured, I endorse that recall advice.

[technolog]

Save Fib's gonads!

We don't want Five-ball Fib to become Free-ball Fib.

Click to see full-size image.

[Laxie]

Sigh.  Had a feeling it was back to scratch with the recall.  [ ] That'll be great fun.

I was thinking about it this afternoon and pretty sure Archie went through a phase where I was threatening to have him snipped too.  He's really good now and rarely leaves my side unless I encourage him to, so fingers crossed...with a bit of recall retraining and a gallon of patience, we'll get there with Fib as well.  Cheers Lads.  Except Boshi.  He can piss off obv.

[Tal]

Is Fib named after Fibonacci? Does he run one metre away, then the same again, then two metres, three metres, five metres, eight, thirteen and so on?

[Laxie]

Is Fib named after Fibonacci? Does he run one metre away, then the same again, then two metres, three metres, five metres, eight, thirteen and so on?

You're not far off.  We already had Archie when we brought Fib onto the scene.  Jack decided the combination of the names (when shouting like a loon in the park for the pair) sounded close enough to Fibonacci...hence 'Fib' for doggy number two.  And now that you mention it, I'm fairly certain he does.  The lil shit.

[Tal]

Is Fib named after Fibonacci? Does he run one metre away, then the same again, then two metres, three metres, five metres, eight, thirteen and so on?

You're not far off.  We already had Archie when we brought Fib onto the scene.  Jack decided the combination of the names (when shouting like a loon in the park for the pair) sounded close enough to Fibonacci...hence 'Fib' for doggy number two.  And now that you mention it, I'm fairly certain he does.  The lil shit.

Fib-u-lous!

[RED-DOG]

How to remove a wasp's nest. (Labour intensive, but fun method)





1: Locate nest.

In this case, we traced them back to the insulation behind a loose board under the portacabin. They're pretty quiet at this point, just a steady stream flying in and out.


 

Click to see full-size image.

2: Put 1/2 pint of petrol into a wide mouth container and place near entrance to nest. Retire to a safe distance for half an hour ish.

Click to see full-size image.

3: Check for evidence that wasps are drunk and disorderly.

Click to see full-size image.

4: Move in with fly swatter.....

[RED-DOG]

5: swat like crazy until wasps become too aggressive and dangerous to handle.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.