Instant Genius - How to keep your dog calm, safe and happy

Episode Date: October 13, 2024

We all love our dogs and want to do what’s best for them but, unfortunately, they aren’t able to talk to us to let us know when something isn’t going well for them. So how can we make sure we’re doing our best to keep them safe and happy? In this episode, we catch up dog expert and author Zazie Todd to talk about her latest book, Bark!: The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog. She teaches us about some key body language cues to look out for to tell when your dog is feeling anxious, shares her top tips on buying a healthy puppy, and explains why it’s always a good idea to let your dog have a good old sniff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's a moment when you start to wonder, what's the right next step? Not about changing who they are, just finding the right kind of support. At Kingsley Manor, life stays expressive, connected, and full of character, shaped by people who have lived interesting lives and aren't finished yet. So it doesn't feel like a change. It feels like a continuation. Explore your options at kingsley Manor.org, a non-profit month-to-month senior community within the Front Porch family.

This podcast is sponsored by name, audio and focal. Streaming has made music more accessible than ever, but true listening is about more than ease. It's about quality. British audio experts name audio, alongside French acoustic specialist focal, combine handcrafted tradition with cutting-edge innovation and high-end materials, delivering digital precision with analogue warmth. So you can experience exceptional sound at home. Music just as the artist intended.

Visit name audio.com. to learn more. Hello and welcome to Instant Genius, a bite-sized masterclass in podcast form. Every Monday and Friday, you'll hear world-leading scientists and experts talking about the most fascinating ideas in science and technology today. I'm Jason Goodyear, commissioning editor and BBC Science Focus. We all love our dogs and want to do what's best for them, but unfortunately, they aren't able to talk to us to let us know when something isn't going

well for them. So how can we make sure we're doing our best to keep them safe and happy? In this episode, we catch up with dog expert and author Zazi Todd to talk about her latest book, Bark, the science of helping your anxious, fearful or reactive dog. She teaches us about some key body language cues to look out for when your dog is feeling anxious, shares her top tips on buying a healthy puppy, and explains why it's always a good idea to let your dog have a good old sniff. Hello, Zazzi, welcome to the podcast. Thanks very much for joining us. Hello, thank you for having me on the show. So we're here today to talk about your book, Bark, the source.

science of helping your anxious, fearful or reactive dog. At the start of the book, you talk about the difference between fear and anxiety. Can you explain that? Yes, it can be a bit hard for us sometimes to tell the difference in a dog, but in general, when we're talking about fear, we're talking about the response to something that is dangerous. And of course, in those moments, fear is actually a positive thing because it's something that helps to keep us safe. So fear isn't necessarily a bad thing. There may be times when it doesn't fit, but it's not necessarily a bad thing and it's the way that our body responds to something dangerous, whereas anxiety is more of a long-lasting thing where there's not necessarily something that's actually dangerous going on.

So it can be more of a problem, therefore, because the dog or person can feel in this anxious state over a long period of time, and that actually can be quite bad for them. Long-term feelings of stress can have biological impacts for them. Now, of course, we don't know exactly what's going on in the dog's head, so we kind of have to guess a little bit. And if we take our dog to the veterinarian, the veterinarian will be more interested because they have some specific kinds of things, anxiety disorders that they can diagnose that non-vets can't. But it's a useful thing for us to think about, basically, when we're looking at our dogs.

What are some body language science we can look out for to see if our dog is feeling anxious? It's a great question because once you know them, you can't unsee them, but it takes practice and experience to be able to recognize them. And I think the one that most people know very well is of the tucked tail, which sometimes can be so far tucked. It's kind of tucked up onto the belly. And if the dog is sitting, they're kind of sitting on their tail. And that's really sad when you see that. But it can also be a lowered body posture. It can be the ears going back. It could be the dog looking away from something or trying to move away from something that they find stressful. One that a lot of people don't recognize is them licking the lips. Now, if you've got a

cookie incoming, then it's all great food is coming. But you take the context into account and if that's not happening, then it probably is a sign of stress. And yawning can be a sign of stress as well. It doesn't necessarily mean that your dog is sleepy. And then we can have these other things like sometimes sniffing the ground. It can just because there's a great smell, but it could be because there's something stressful over there and the dog is trying not to pay attention to it. And so it's what we call a displacement behaviour when something stressful is happening. In the book, you mentioned something called Whaleigh. And I think anyone lucky enough to have a dog in their lives will recognise this. They will have seen it and it's a sign of the dog being fearful or anxious or stressed. And you can

see the whites of the eyes. So it's quite a hard look in the eyes and you can see the whites of the eyes. And it's not just because they're looking sideways. So you always have to take the context into account, but it's a sign of the dog being quite stressed. So talking about stressed dogs, sometimes they can get a bit nippy. And in the book you mentioned different types of bite. Well, we hope that no one will end up in a situation where their dog actually bites, but there are bite scales that can be used to assess if someone does get bitten. And very often dogs have what we call good bite inhibition. And in those cases, even if they put teeth on someone's skin,

they're not going to cause any damage. And one of the times when dogs learn bite inhibition is when they're puppies, and we think that they learn it from playing with other puppies in the nest, or other puppies when they're still young and during the sensitive period for socialisation, which is up until about 12 to 14 weeks. And the way it works, or we think it works, is that if they play too hard with the other puppies, the puppy will yelp and not want to play anymore. And so over time, they will learn, okay, I mustn't bite too hard in play,

and they're learning to have this control over their mouth. Now, we think and we hope that if a dog has good bite inhibition, that they will not bite hard. but we can't guarantee it because it will of course depend on the circumstances. And it's important to remember that any dog can bite. So you have to be aware of that and not think, oh, my dog won't bite. Unfortunately, many, many people do get bitten by their dog every year. And so there is a scale.

I've put a modified version of the scale in the book that you can look at that will tell you how bad the bite is. And it just assesses how much the teeth go in, whether or not the dog shook their head when they bit. And whether there were multiple bites, because multiple bites. multiple bites is worse than a single bite. Having said that, what about muzzling? What are your views on that? If you have a dog who you think might be a risk to people, then teaching the dog to wear a muzzle is a great idea

because it will help to keep people safe. And I think teaching a dog to wear a muzzle can be useful for all kinds of reasons. Some people have dogs that will eat absolutely anything off the floor. And so to keep them safe, they have to put a muzzle on them on walks because they can't prevent them from eating things otherwise. you know, whatever trash people have thrown out there or bits of food that are left behind. But also, many dogs at some point in their life will end up having to be muzzled at the vet

so that a procedure can happen that they don't like. So it's just useful to be able to teach a dog to wear a muzzle. And I think it's important to know that you do that with positive reinforcement and it's a slow process. So you don't just stick the muzzle on the dog and think, okay, that's okay, because the dog won't like it. So you can expect to take several weeks of training working through, a gradual training plan to teach them to wear a muzzle. And that's a really important way to

keep people safe. Unfortunately, there's quite a big stigma around dogs wearing a muzzle. So that can be useful if you don't want people to approach your dog because they won't come near, even though the muscle makes them safe. But it is an important skill for dogs to have. If we're talking about fearful dogs, what are some common things that do make our dogs afraid? One of the most common fears in dogs is actually a fear of loud noises, and that could be fear of thunder or fireworks or gunshots. And that's very, very common. And depending on the study you look at,

between 25% and just over half of dogs are afraid of loud noises. Other common fears would be fear of new people, fear of dogs they haven't met before, and fear of new situations, and that might include going to the vet. So that will be common too. One of the other issues, people often put aggression as a separate thing, so biting, lunging, growling, but that's often because of fear.

That often happens as a response to feeling afraid. So there are lots of common fears. And I think one of the things to know is that if it's a new fear that develops in an older dog, then it's important to see your veterinarian in case there's something medical going on, because that's something that we have a wider awareness of now. And I'm not a vet, but that's one of the circumstances in which I know that you should go to a vet. You say this place was steps from the water. We just haven't found the steps yet.

How much did we save? Enough. Enough to get lost. Or you could book a stay with Hilton. Welcome to your oceanfront room. Just steps from the water. The Hilton sale is on now. Book on Hilton.com or the Hilton app

and save up to 20% to get the stay you expected. When you want savings, not surprises. It matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay. This podcast is sponsored by name, audio, and trocal. With over 100 years of combined expertise, name and focal have been bringing music to listeners just as the artist intended. Since day one, this mantra has shaped every innovation in high-fi design, technology and acoustic engineering,

balancing craftsmanship and tradition with pioneering thinking. Name audio pushes cutting-edge technology to ensure digital precision whilst sustaining Pratt, pace, rhythm and timing. the elusive quality that makes music feel alive and gives it emotional texture. Today, in partnership with French acoustic specialist focal, name audio creates systems that deliver exceptional sound and unforgettable listening experiences at home. Try it for yourself at a focal powered by name boutique.

Visit focal powered by name.com for more information. So a lot of people got dogs during the COVID lockdown and they weren't really able to socialise them. So how important is socialisation? Socialisation is really, really important because dogs have what we call a sensitive period between three and about 12 to 14 weeks and that's when their brain is ready to accept

lots and lots of new experiences. And if they have a wide range of positive experiences with other people, other dogs, different environments, different noises in the home and so on, that helps them grow up to be friendly, confident adult dogs. So that's why it's important for us to always check if you're getting a puppy to make sure that you ask the breeder, what have they been doing to socialise the puppy? And that you make sure that you see the puppy with the mom and you know that they're being brought up in a home environment,

not in a shed in someone's backyard or someone's garage or something like that. They need to be in the home because they're getting important socialization then before they come to you. And then once they come to you, it's really important to make a list of lots of different things, take your puppy to lots of places safely because they haven't had all of their vaccinations yet and also make sure you give them a choice. So don't just give your puppy to someone else to hold. If your puppy is meeting someone, always give them a choice of whether or not to go up because you do not want to terrify a shy puppy that would have the exact opposite effect of what you're planning to do. But it's really important and a good puppy class can really help you with that socialisation.

So say we've got a dog that hasn't been socialised in this way, what can we do to help them? There's a lot that we can do to help, and it would depend a little bit on the specific situation, but we can use a range of things. One of them would be what we call as dog trainers management, and what that means is protecting the dog from things that they find scary. So if they're afraid of strange people,

we're not going to make them go up to people and meet them. We're not even going to ask other people to give them nice food, because that might be too frightening for them to have to approach the other person to get it. But we can use things like pet gates or barriers or we can walk the dog at times of day when there aren't many people about. So we do whatever we can to keep them feeling safe. And then we can use training. And there's a wonderful technique called counter conditioning, which is really powerful.

It can be quite slow because you have to work at the dog's pace. And as humans, we just want to go too fast most of the time. So it's important to know that this involves having something that your dog thinks is an absolutely amazing treat, like a piece of steak or parmesan cheese or something like that. And then whenever the dog happens to see something that they consider scary, ideally it's a low level, so it's not too scary. We give them this wonderful snack and over time it will help to teach them that they don't have to be scared of it after all. So let's have a look at treat training. So Sundogun, as I've met, disagree with this. And isn't that a shame? For several reasons. One of the things about using

treats as rewards in training is it's really effective. So there are two types of training that we might use treats for. One is technically we will call it operant conditioning and that's when you're teaching the dog to do a behavior like sit and then you give them a treat to make sure that they'll keep on doing that behavior again. That's really effective. Some of the research suggests that that is potentially even more effective than using their old-fashioned, aversive techniques like yelling at your dog, using a prong collar, tugging on the leash and things like that. And those older methods, they're quite outdated now, and they have risks for dogs' welfare.

So they risk the dog having increased fear, anxiety, aggression. They risk a worse relationship with the owner. And there's actually quite a lot of studies that look at this. They also risk the dog being pessimistic, which is a measure of long-term welfare. So those methods are bad for welfare, whereas we don't have those issues with using treats to train dogs. And we might sometimes decide to use other rewards,

as well, like play or petting or some kind of life reward like opening the door and letting them run outside. But it's really effective. It works and it's good for the bond between you and the dog. And then the counter conditioning that I just mentioned, we're using treats in that as well, but we're using them in a different way. It doesn't matter what the dog's behavior is, but we're using it to teach the dog that actually they should love something because it predicts all these wonderful yummy treats. So let's talk about disciplining dogs. Personally, when I had my dog growing up, I never yelled at him or God forbid. smacked him. I find that really unpleasant. You know, what problems can treating a dog like this cause? Yeah, I would agree that that's completely unpleasant. And I think a lot of people do use positive reinforcement, but unfortunately we know that there are some people who also use those methods some

of the time. And that's really bad for dogs' welfare. So there's a lot of different research looking at it, which gives us quite a lot of confidence that it is bad for dogs' welfare. And as well, it kind of parallels the research on children. So we know that doing those things to children would be bad for children and has quite long-lasting effects. And so even though we don't have as much research on dogs, we do have a lot of confidence in that result. So sometimes even in the moment when it happens, you can see the dog's body language change. So you can see the tail go down or the posture go down or the dog look worried in some way. And sometimes dogs will actually respond with an aggressive response. And unfortunately, some of the things that people do to dogs

in the name of training are not nice, and they're really quite bad for dogs. Another common problem our dogs have is separation anxiety. Is there anything we can really do about that? Separation-related issues occur when the dog is left home alone on their own, and they don't like it. And I think this can be quite a difficult problem to solve, unfortunately. But it is important to know that there can be a range of reasons why this happens in dogs. And sometimes it could be that your dog is bored, so they need more things to do. But it can also be just because they have that strong attachment bond with you and they cannot bear for you to go out. And if they've not been used to you going out and then all of a sudden you start going out quite a lot, that's one of the situations in which this might happen to occur.

and also it seems to happen more common in dogs from rescues, which again might be because they've had kind of broken attachment bonds, but we don't fully understand why yet. So one of the things about separation-related issues is that in order to keep the dog feeling safe, that means not leaving the dog alone. So that can be quite difficult to start with. You can very effectively work on what we call desensitization and get them used to being left alone, but it is very gradual and it takes a long time. and in the meantime, you mustn't leave them alone for longer than they used to. So that means having maybe a doggy daycare or a dog walker that can keep your dog company, maybe having family and friends who will come and sit with your dog when you go out, finding a local student who will just come and sit with your dog and get on with studying

in order to keep the dog company, something like that. If you think about it, there are usually lots and lots of different things that you can do, but you do sometimes have to be a bit creative in order to make that happen. Understandably, some dogs just don't like going to the vet. I mean, is there anything we can do to calm them down? It really helps to start when you have a puppy and to make sure that those early visits to the vets are positive ones. And I think vets know this, so they will do their very best to make those early visits positive ones. But the other thing is that often when the dog goes to the vet, things happen that they don't like.

They have to happen. And it's understandable that dogs don't like this. but we can train them to accept some of these things. So one thing you can do is you can ask your vet if it's okay to visit and just nothing is going to happen from the veterinary perspective but the dog is just going to have a nice time and a party in the waiting room or the exam room or something like that. Most vets will let you do that.

Some vets actually have a specific appointment that you can book for that and they will have a vet nurse sit with you so there'll be a charge for it but the vet nurse will help you to make that a really positive experience for the dog and that gets them used to it. So that can really help. And also, we can train dogs to accept being handled. So there are training plans that exist. For example, the Academy for Dog Trainers has a set of what they call

husbandry training plans on the web. And these are fully tested plans that anyone can do. So you can teach your dog to let you look in their ears or let you look at their paws or to teach them to lie on their side, things like that. And that can help as well. And then also, if your vet will let you take treats to the appointment, sometimes it might not be appropriate for medical reasons, but most of the time you can take treats and give them to your dog there,

and that can help to make it a more positive experience too. So let's talk about the home now then. How do we make an enriching environment at home for our dogs? It really helps if the dog has lots of different activities that they can do. One of the things we know is really important for dogs' welfare is that they have positive experiences and opportunities to engage in normal doggy behaviours, which means things like sniffing and it means things like playing.

So one thing you can do when you take your dog for walks is make sure they do have lots of opportunities to sniff. And if they're off lead, obviously they've got opportunities to run and lots of freedom. But sometimes people have to only walk their dog on lead and then make sure that you're not making the dog walk too fast. Remember that the walk is for the dog. I like to call it letting them take a sniffari, give them lots of chance to sniff and find out all the neighborhood news,

basically from all the smells that are there. Have a range of different toys for your dog in the home and change them up from time to time as well. And we can use food puzzle toys to feed the dog. That makes feeding times more interesting. It gives them a bit of work to do. It engages their brain as well because they have to work to get the food out of the toy.

And then just a little bit of training with positive reinforcement. Don't just think about teaching manners, but think of training as a fun thing that you can do with your dog. So you can teach some tricks, for example, like to sit pretty or something like that or to spin in circles or whatever you like. And it's a fun activity that both of you can enjoy. So you mentioned walking there. I know that can be an issue for some people.

Do you have any tips that can help? I think it's really helpful if your dog does get regular walks because some people, unfortunately, do not walk their dogs enough. And some dogs actually need quite a bit of exercise. If you've got somewhere off leash where they can run around, that's really, really good for them and really nice for them. If you have a dog who is reactive when they're on lead, then you might actually need to walk at times when it's quite quiet

or drive to somewhere where you can find, you know, a quiet place to actually walk. But I think as far as walks go, do more of them if you can because it's good for your dog. It's good for you too, of course, to get out and walk there. So it's a win-win situation. And if you need a bit of encouragement, pick the same time each day because dogs have a good internal clock and they will come and start staring at you when it's time for their walk.

some of them will even bring you the lead. So you will not be able to forget. So you mentioned reactive dogs. What can we do if you've got a dog that is a bit cautious around with the dogs or maybe even a bit aggressive? When you have a dog who's being reactive only to other dogs, actually it's sometimes it's because they're afraid and sometimes it's because they're frustrated. So you have to figure out which one it is because the solution will be a bit different.

If they're frustrated, it could be that actually they really like others. the dogs and they're frustrated when they're on lead because they want to meet them and they can't meet them and so then you get the barking and the growling. So in those situations, you will have a dog who actually once they're off lead is quite good at playing with other dogs and the solution is to make sure that they have more of those opportunities. And if you're not quite sure about the dogs they play with, then you can set them up with specific dogs. So you're not asking them to play with dogs they don't know, but you can try and make sure they have opportunities to play with dogs that you know that are going to be friendly towards them and it's like

they have good friends, good doggy friends that they can hang out with. On the other hand, if they're reacted because they're afraid of other dogs and this can happen, especially if they didn't have those opportunities to play with other puppies, for example, in puppy class when they were young, then we would use that counter-conditioning technique to teach them that other dogs at a safe distance are actually okay and then over time you will gradually be able to reduce the distance. That would be one way of dealing with it. But I think people can find this quite frustrating. So it's a good idea to get a dog trainer to help you with that. By way of summing up then, do you have a sort of few top tips and a few no-noes for our listeners? So top tips, one thing is make sure that your dog has a

safe space in the home and this is a space they can go. It could be a dog bed. It could be a crate. It could be a sette that's theirs if you've got enough space for it. And it's somewhere the dog can choose to come and go from as they wish that they have control over. That's really helpful, especially for a fearful and anxious dog, but for any dog. Another thing is always use positive reinforcement to train your dog. So big, big no-no is using things like tugs on the leash, yelling at your dog, shot collars, huge, huge no-no, prong collars, things like that, because they have risks for your dog. And then the other thing is, if you have a fearful and anxious dog, for the person, my tip is that's actually quite hard. It can feel very hard. So I want you to know that there is hope

and there is a lot of different things that we can do. So if you're struggling, reach out for help because we might not necessarily be able to completely fix the problem, but we can make a big, big difference. And also dog trainers can help to support you through that too. So don't feel bad. There is a lot that you can do. Thank you for listening to this episode of Instant Genius,

brought to you from the team behind BBC Science Focus. That was dog expert and author Sazi Todd. To discover more about the topics we've just discussed, check out her book, Bark, The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog. If you liked what you just heard, then please do you consider subscribing to Instinct Genius on your preferred podcast platform. The current issue of BBC Science Focus is out now. Pick up a copy wherever you buy your favourite magazines or download us on your app store of choice.

You can also find us online at sciencefocus.com. This podcast is sponsored by name, audio and focal. The texture and emotional depth of music can be lost through digital sources or poor signal. Name Audio believes you can have digital precision with analog warmth. Alongside French acoustic specialist vocal, Name creates high-end audio systems combining innovation with craftsmanship so you can listen to music, just as the artist intended. Discover more at name audio.com. Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes. At First Citizens Bank, we roll with your goals.

Because we're built for what you're building. Fit for your ambition for citizens back. In a place like Los Angeles, people don't stop being who they are. Writers, thinkers, creators, people with stories still unfolding. That spirit lives on at Kingsley Manor, a community shaped by individuality, creativity, and lives well-lived. So when the conversation turns to what's next, it isn't about stepping away.

It's about continuing the story. Explore your options at kingsley manor.org, a nonprofit month-to-month senior community within the Front Porch family.