Re-Evaluation of the "Submissive Sit" I have been doing a lot of re-evaluating things that I have learned when it comes to managing an individual dog’s behavior as well as the behavior of two or more dogs in a group setting. One of the things I have been thinking a lot about is a behavior correction called a “Submissive Sit”. What is a Submissive Sit? This is when a human repeatedly body blocks a dog’s every move, slowly taking space if needed to achieve a sit in submission to the person. Some dogs don’t appear to mind this too much and will give up quickly and drop into a sit. Others will avoid it while giving body language cues like lip licking, a paw raise or look away, yet other dogs will bolt passed the person to flee what is making them uncomfortable. Once the dog chooses to sit (some will take a laying down position) then the human moves away which signifies that the dog is "released" from this display of submission. If the same negative behavior continues, the human again pursues yet another submissive sit. This is done either until the dog quits doing the negative behavior or the human decides they have had enough and the dog is removed from the situation. I became quite skilled at doing this and even just saying a certain dog’s name would have them putting on the breaks. It seemed like a great thing at the time. Recently, I have been reading about human body language and have begun to question the use of the submissive sit (or submissive down). In humans, taking and closing in on someone’s personal space is scary and can be down right terrifying. So, if we switch this scenario and take the methods used to bring a dog into this “submissive” position and it is now a person doing the same thing to another person, it is intimidating, scary, bullying and considered a form of abuse. If you were to do this to the wrong person, you might just land yourself in the hospital. I am not suggesting that we should not use body blocking. I am however suggesting that we think about what our reason is for using body blocking when we are working with dogs. Are we using it as a method to prevent a dog from bolting out the front door? Or are we using it to intimidate and bring about a change in behavior? Any time we use the words “Submit” or “Dominate” with dogs, we should be questioning things. Besides, we brought a dog into our lives to be a companion, buddy, friend, side kick – not something to lord over, control or rule. I personally am removing the use of body blocking with the intent of pushing a dog to display "submissive posture" as a disciplinary action from my work with dogs.
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Favorite Gear I love getting out and doing things that allow me to take one (or more) of my dogs along. The challenge though is that any time you take your dog out with you, there is a list of items that need to go along, like clean up bags, treats, maybe a chew item or toy to keep them occupied in down time and then you have the leash. With just one dog, all these items can keep your hands full. If you have two or more… It’s a hassle! My dogs have great leash skills, so a hands-free leash option was something I thought would be a great addition to my doggy gear. But, which one? There are so many brands and styles out there and I didn’t want to trust my dog staying attached to me to just any brand. I checked reviews and found various comments saying they were great, as well as others saying they are not great. It all boiled down to finding a quality brand and the training level of the dog that the product would be used with. Many people complained that the hands-free leashes were not durable enough for their large dog. If your dog doesn’t have any leash skills, no matter what their size, a hands-free leash is not something you can use without teaching proper leash manners. How did I choose which one I wanted? Here is how I made my pick!
Which one did I choose? I went with one by Outward Hound. I have their older design, and I love it! Their new design looks great and appears to have even more functional options without making for bulky equipment. I have not tried it yet, so I can’t really give any specific feedback on it. The older design I have used for large and small dogs. At one point I walked my husky and three bully breed mixes from 60 – 80 pounds all attached to my hands-free leash! I had worked for about 4 weeks (each dog) on their leash skills individually, as a group and introduced them to the hands-free leash individually before venturing out on a group walk. Below is a link to Outward Hound's website so you can get one for yourself. https://outwardhound.com/catalog/product/view/id/216/s/hands-free-hipster/category/6/ The Incredible Jack-Jack I want to introduce you to the inspiration for my logo: When I first saw “Jack”, he was a small unnamed puppy suffering from the effects of Parvo Virus. He was adorable, but clearly would not make it. On top of it, I had told myself that I was never having another dog. The loss of my previous pup, a rottweiler named Barney was still very heavy on my heart. When the pup made a full recovery, he was moved to my care back in the boarding kennel, I was told to start training him, so he would be adoptable. I had taken my Rottweiler through obedience class, but he was far from being well trained, so I had a lot to learn. This puppy was cute, and I was determined to get him ready for adoption. Within a week he was out the door and off to his new home. Within 48 hours, he was back. They claimed he had destroyed the house and could not be confined to a crate. I hadn’t seen that, but who knows, he’s a puppy! The very next week he was adopted again. This time he was gone for a week before he came back. This person claimed the howling never stopped and he refused to even potty outside. So, one of the Vet Techs took him home at night to see what the issue was. She said all the stories were true; he was terrible. During the nights at her house, her family named him Jack-Jack, after the baby from the Incredibles movie that would spontaneously burst into flames – he was that bad. During the day this pup followed me everywhere and seemed perfect. My heart still wasn’t ready to commit to another dog, though I adored him. So, he was adopted again. I was sad when he left this time and felt bad that I passed up the chance at this very smart, apparently very naughty puppy. He ended up coming back again! But, this time it was the week of my birthday. We hung out during my lunch breaks, and I spent the next couple weeks researching the breed, really did some soul searching and then proposed the idea to my family. My Dad met him first and then Mom. I was given the okay to adopt this fluff ball. The Vet Tech that had been taking him home at night questioned my sanity when I said I was going to adopt him. Jack's new routine started the same day I brought him home. This pup went everywhere I went. If it was time to feed the horses, he was there. If I was going to work, he went too. His days were as long and busy as mine. He loved every minute of it. He slept through the night, followed my every command and soaked up new skills like a sponge. I never did see the bad behavior everyone else did (other than counter surfing, ever so carefully tasting cheese it's without taking a cracker, being a ninja ginger snap thief). Maybe it was the work I put into training him or maybe we are just such a good fit that it has seemed effortless. Overall, he’s a great dog and I am so glad he was terrible for everyone else, lol. He loves to play and cuddle with the cats, he guards and protects the chickens. He loves Tinker and Duncan (my two small dogs), gets along with just about everyone. He is also amazing at detecting if someone is trustworthy or not. I continue fine tuning his skills and teaching him new things. He loves sniffing things out, so I plan to officially start him on some true nose work training for fun. |