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Of Mice and Mice and Mice and M...

A few weeks ago Broad Shoulders took a trip to an open house for animal rescues at the city pound. (Photo courtesy of Chicago Animal Care and Control Rescue.)

I was overwhelmed. Dogs who'd been held at the pound as "evidence" for court cases were being presented and the crowd clapped when one was taken in by a rescue. It is a joyful thing because a dog at the city pound is in danger of being killed. We celebrate when one is saved, but we know that we are celebrating because so many are killed. I teared up then, and I'm tearing up now.

We walked through the pound and the rescue pulled several cats. I wanted so badly to foster an animal myself, to save just one, but my own special needs animal is about all I can handle.

... Until we came across a tank of mice. They didn't stand much of a chance at CACC. Theoretically small animals can be adopted - but they don't have a space to show them. Mice I could handle, and mice are valuable little individuals too.

I was reassured that they were all female. "Males have very prominent testicles," I was told. Well, not Clint Beastwood! Boy, did I drop the balls on this one!

Predictably, just a few short weeks later I lifted a snuggle pouch I'd given the mice and found a pile of tiny, precious pink baby mice. It was well within the bounds of the mouse gestation period. Simple, I thought. Maybe the mice were just pregnant when I took them in. In fact, I'd been concerned about the possibility all along, and worried when one of the mice looked fat.

I began to worry that perhaps this was not the case. How to tell though? Disturbing the nest or disturbing the mother could scare her into abandoning her litter (mice can't afford to waste their energy on babies who won't survive, so if they are frightened they might abandon or cull their babies.) None of the three adults are used to being handled so picking them up to examine them could be dangerously stressful. Worse, I had no idea which the mother was and didn't want to frighten the wrong mouse.

I should mention that all three mice took wonderful care of the litter. They snuggled them, moved them back to the nest when they wandered and carefully maintained the nest, even closing the "door" after themselves whenever they entered or left. Now that there are two litters (oy!) both moms care for and nurse both as if all the babies are their own. A friend of the rescue says that this is unsurprising, her mice took similar care of an elderly, sick mouse in the colony. What awesome little animals!

Luckily for me, the mice made their nest in a without bedding under it in a glass tank on a glass table, so I could see through. Through my little window I saw the only mouse I hadn't thought was fat nursing.

Not wanting to disturb the mice, it took more than a day to get a peek at all of them and to find my suspect. Unfortunately, a mouse can get pregnant within 24 hours of giving birth and this isn't good for her (not to mention that breeding is directly counter to BSAR's mission!) Thankfully, it seems that this didn't happen, but it's too early to be sure. In my defense, the difference was subtle in Clint - even the vet took a few minutes to confirm my suspicions.

It turned out, the mouse I did suspect was fat was also pregnant. Surprisingly, she had 10 more days to go and ballooned to quite an impressive size. (I suspect she may have delayed birth due to the first litter.) Our second litter was born on Valentines Day!

Needless to say, this has certainly been a learning experience for BSAR. We aren't sure how, but we will find every single one of the little guys a loving home. I don't regret saving them one bit - but there are things I'll remember next time!

We are accepting applications for the first litter now - they are just about ready for their forever homes!

What about training cats?

What do you think? Does Pearl look like she'd put up with forceful punishment? I dont' think so!

A proposed criteria (by B.F. Skinner) for judging domestication is how well an animal responds to positive punishment. (Training jargon for adding something unpleasant, painful or scary to punish.) Dog, humans and horses as well as the often forgotten pigs, cows an chickens are fairly unique in that we will take abuse, and stick with their abuser. Wild animals will not.

This flies in the face of pop dog "psychology" which holds intimidation and physical force are necessary for training dogs because they are descended from wolves. Quite the opposite - not only are these methods unnecessary for dogs, they'd be useless and dangerous to use on wolves!

Cats don't quite meet this criteria for domestication. They won't do well with aversive punishment. Punish a cat and she will not come crawling back for more. Hence the myth of the un-trainable cat. If all you have in your training arsenal are punishment based methods you won't have much luck with most cats (or wolves or lions or tigers or bears, oh my!)

However, like all animals cats respond to reward-based methods.

Here is an excellent example:



or:



And another:



And another:



Or any of these!

New Adoptions!

Congratulations to Handsome and Big Papa, our latest adoptions!

Dog Training Overview: more than just obedience!

Why is training so important?

It's unfortunate that the word training has such a narrow meaning in most people's minds. When people hear the words 'dog training' they think 'sit, stay, don't eat off the counters!' - but that's just the beginning. What training really is:

• Basic manners and safety (sit, stay, come, etc are important.)
• Leadership. You need to guide your dog and be the parent - but this doesn't mean intimidating him.
  
• How to speak dog! Yes, you need to learn what your dog thinks as well, most dogs are natural communicators once we learn to listen.
  
• Dog therapy. You heard me, dogs can have just as broad a range of neurosis as humans and they deserve expert help too.
• A crash course in clear communication - for you!
  
• The sky is the limit - your dog is ready to learn anything!

We firmly believe that the best thing you can do for your relationship with your dog is to find a competent trainer and read. It's also the best way to prevent the number one reason people give up dogs - behavior issues. Sadly, dog training is a battle ground with common knowledge and some training celebrities a full 50 years behind current science. It's worth spending time researching your sources before putting your trust in any book, video, TV show, trainer or behaviorist.


The basics:

Every dog needs to know a few things. He needs to know the rules he will be expected to follow, he needs to know basic commands like: sit, stay, come, down, touch. These things are important for safety - as well as quality of life. You'll be able to go more places with your dog if you can trust him more.

A dog also needs to be socialized. This means interacting with all different sizes, shapes and colors of humans and other dogs. They need to be exposed to a variety of hair styles, clothing styles and objects people carry too.

For a quick introduction, I highly recommend Ian Dunbar's online training textbook, The Dog Star Daily . You can check the blogs and videos on the site for some more advanced advice. Ian Dunbar gave a talk at TED which was my introduction to modern training - I hope you enjoy it too:



Leadership - isn't it all about dominance?

Contrary to folk-lore, a dog's world view isn't based completely around a dominance hierarchy. In fact, dominance is an important, but small part of doggy behavior. It's simply a peace-keeping strategy to determine who of two animals gets a specific resource first. These roles can reverse for different resources. When I stay at my parent's place my boy, Arlo, has claimed first dibs for food - but my parent's dog, Gypsy, maintains dibs on his bed. They know who gets priority access, so they don't need to fight, it's a beautiful thing! Note that dogs don't think humans are dogs - neither dog extends this concept to the human family members. That sort of confusion would be completely abnormal.

Dogs jump, counter surf, pull on leash and chew your things because these things are rewarding and they haven't been taught manners. These things don't mean your dog sees himself as "the alpha" and rolling, shocking, yelling, hitting, choking or intimidating are all unnecessary.

So you should make rules, let the dog know about them and be assertive about them. You should do all this with calm insistence, not pain. Sometimes training isn't intuitive, so consult a pro before you resort to intimidation, pain or force if you don't know what else to do.

Here are some links:

• AVSAB statement on "dominance"
• APDT on "dominance"
  
• Pat McConnell, PhD., CAAB on "dominance". I highly recommend McConnell's books, including How to be the Leader of the Pack which directly addresses this "dominance" confusion.
  
• Sophia Yin, DVM, MS on "dominance"
• Jean Donaldson's The Culture Clash is my favorite book on doggy psychology. Everything is so much simpler than people make it!
  

Learning to communicate with your dog.

Illustration from Lili Chin, link to her blog below (in this section.)

Sadly, common knowledge is that if a dog misbehaves the human is to blame. This is over simplified. You are certainly half the equation, but your dog has a complex mind too. He has got built in fears, drives and associations so let's listen to what your dog is saying!

Yawns, lip licks, paw lifts, head turns, walking patterns, "whale eyes", "soft eyes", body postures, body shakes, sitting, lying down and other things all convey information to dogs. Humans miss many of these cues, but we shouldn't!

Here are some dog body language links:

• Calming Signals by Turid Ragaas. She has a well illustrated book which is an easy read for children as well!
• Another excellent illustration by Lili Chen of Boogies Blog, which is a wonderful resource as well!
• Giant book of dog body language by Brenda Aloff

Here is a video from kikopup:



Learning should not hurt.

We believe firmly that training should not hurt. This view is backed by the major authorities on the subject as well. Why?

It doesn't have to. Why cause your dog pain when other methods have been shown to be equally, if not more effective?

In fact, stress inhibits learning. The link talks about research done on rats and mice (which BSAR strongly opposes!), but the science holds for humans and dogs too. When learning is stressful we don't learn effectively. Positive punishment methods often rely on learned helplessness, which is counter-productive in the long term.

Hurting a dog can backfire. While many dogs learn perfectly with aversive methods, there is always a risk that these methods will cause fear or aggression.

• AVSAB on the use of punishment in dog training
• Don't take my word for it - here is an unfiltered google scholar search for "positive punishment dog". Positive punishment is training jargon for adding something (hence positive) unpleasant to punish (decrease the frequency of) the behavior. BSAR opposes positive punishment.
  

Dog therapy?



You heard me. Many dog behavior issues aren't simple training problems.

Dogs can have a version of OCD, they can have fears based on a single traumatic experience, or a pattern of trauma, like my boy. Dogs can also develop neuroses which have little to do with the dog's environment. Certainly environment plays a big role - but it's believed that object guarding, noise/storm phobia, separation anxiety and several other things don't correlate well to problems in the dog's upbringing. Furthermore, there are many medical problems that can cause behavioral problems. Always consult a vet if your dog has a behavior problem!

Treatment for these behavior problems involves treating the emotion or underlying compulsion as well. This is a subject for dozens of books - but suffice it to say that if your dog has aggression, anxiety or a behavior you are having trouble treating you really need to see an expert.

Some links:

• My favorite booklist for working with any dog - but especially fear. It's on a website that is a wonderful resource for any fearful dog too!
• Behavioral Adjustment Therapy (BAT) is a great strategy for fearful or impolite dogs.

Clear communication?

I was in the dog park with my dog the other day, and I witnessed a disturbing scene.

A man was walking three dogs, two off leash. He called one who was lagging behind him, but she didn't listen immediately. He then got agitated and yelled at her. She froze in her tracks and as he kept yelling turned and ran with her tail down to her front door. Meanwhile the other dog ran away too. The man stormed over and grabbed the second dog so hard she yelped, then ran over smacked the first dog and yelled at both of them.

What's disturbing about this? Obviously it's disturbing that he hurt his dogs. But there is more. He taught his dogs that "come" means trouble. He is hurting these dogs for perceived disobedience while at the same time teaching them that "come" means you'd better run and hide.

Well meaning people fail to communicate with their dogs all the time, though usually not to that extreme. Most dog guardians are guilty of punishing our dogs for a rule we didn't tell him about. We let the dog pull us on leash (a huge reward!) until we get sick of it, then we choke him, we let a puppy jump (another self-rewarding behavior) until he gets too big, then we knee him in the chest, we teach animals that shoes aren't chew toys only after it's too late. We scream at dogs who helped themselves to food on the counter. (How was the dog supposed to know?!)

All of these problems can be solved and prevented with simple calm persistence. If you stop walking every time your dog pulls, he'll stop. If you take your attention away (and turn your back) when your dog jumps it will lose it's appeal. If you supervise chewing your dog will never learn shoes are delicious. For all these things, training incompatible behaviors can speed the process along too. (Try making your dog "touch" your hand each time he pulls to reset the loose leash - then reward while he is doing it right!)




CAUTION: The dog training profession is in the middle of a crisis.

On the one hand we have a brilliant community of trainers, behaviorists and vet behaviorists and a plethora of training, behavior and psychology books. There is so much to learn!

Then there is the dark side. We have celebrity trainers who advocate methods which are outdated, cruel and are shown to be less effective and dangerous. They cause aggression. Training organizations have even cropped up just to certify people who advocate using methods which are advised against by the authoritative training organizations.

Advice on how to find a trainer:

• American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior [PDF] and their statement on types of behavior professionals [PDF].
  
• Association of Pet Dog Trainers
• Recommended trainers from the Fearful Dogs Blog
• Dog Star Daily's take on the issue

Lists of excellent trainers:

• List of Karen Pryor Academy graduates. This is a training organization which is serious about holding their trainers to high standards!
• "Truly Dog Friendly" Trainers Short list of trainers who don't use pain or intimidation.
• Pat Miller's List

More!

What ever you'd like! Here is my favorite youtube channel - positive, clicker trained rescue ridgebacks do chores!



Dogs are smart - once you learn to communicate clearly with them, the sky is the limit :-)

The End of "The Kitten Rescue of 2009"

Any rescuer knows, a rescue effort isn't truly over when the animals are in foster homes, shelters, or in a new and safer place. It's over once everyone's been adopted.

In the summer of 2009, one of our former board members was at one of Chicago's low cost/high volume spay/neuter/vaccine clinics and started talking to one of the people dropping off feral cats. They described a sad story: he worked in an industrial area out in the suburbs and there were lots of cats that lived around it. He started feeding the cats and then trapping them to get spay/neutered. Unfortunately, the other workers didn't understand the benefits of a TNR (trap-neuter-return) program and started complaining that he was encouraging cats to come to the workplace, along with ostracizing him. Despite this, he continued using his own money to get the cats s/n'd, vaccinated, etc.

As he tried to catch all the cats, spring came and the few females cats he hadn't caught became pregnant and had kittens- about 2 dozen, to be exact. Luckily, he met BSAR then. The former board member helped him trap the rest of the cats and kittens. Sadly, at least one other worker had started attacking the kittens- we found several dead or injured from blunt force trauma. We took in the kittens to socialize and some adults to help nurse back to health before being released in a safer location.

At that time, the former board member was our main foster home, so she took in the majority of the kittens. Other board members and foster homes took in some litters. Luckily, many of the kittens went quickly but there were a few that were highly antisocial, whom I took in after the main foster home's efforts weren't working (she did have a lot at one time, after all!). We worked with them for weeks, even months, and most of them were adopted.

Except, for some reason, Tigerlily and Faustina.


Tigerlily's the orange & white girl in front, Faustina's the striking calico in the back.


These beautiful sisters stayed in my care for over a year and a half. I refereed to Faustina as semi-feral for quite a while. No matter what we did, she only trusted two people and was easily spooked, even with us. She didn't like to be touched, she'd run away from people walking towards her and she was so easily scared that she'd hide at any loud sound. Tigerlily was shy at first but when she warmed up, she was super sweet, lovey and trusting.

For the longest time, I said I'd adopt Faustina if Tigerlily was adopted solo but that they really should be adopted together. Faustina depended on her sister to feel safe but Tigerlily didn't depend on her. Besides, Faustina also loved my cat and I was use to her quirky ways. A couple times, people wanted to meet Tigerlily, but were weary of how shy she was at first and went with someone else.

Luckily, it worked out for the best! Eventually, a young couple contacted us interested in adoption. They had heard about us from a friend that fosters for the rescue and were interested in cats that had been with us the longest. They came to my house to meet a few cats, but everyone was shy that night- except for Faustina and Tigerlily! Armed with wand toys and treats, the girls actually came out of their shells a bit and cautiously played with them. We knew this was meant to be and went straight to their house to do the home check. After discussing their needs and any questions they had, we arranged to drop the girls off after their new parents had some time to buy cat supplies.

Last we heard, the girls were adjusting great- cuddling and being sweet. We are so happy that, after a year and a half of waiting, they found their forever home. Congratulations to them and their new family!

Update to "Lots of Special Needs Right Now..."

Sorry I've been slacking! As the main foster home for the rescue, my roommate and I often get the neediest and/or most. Life can be hectic. I have some good updates and some sad updates, unfortunately.

First off, a huge thank you to everyone who, during the thick of it, would come over for part of the day (or even take some cats to their house for a day or two!) to help take care all the special needs critters. It helped so much more than you know.

The three bottle-fed kittens are thriving! The big tabby is Dumpling, the runt tabby is Clementine and the black kitten is Jellybean. They're back to plain formula, nursing well and having good poops. They're old enough to start litter box training soon and Dumpling has started to figure out how to lap their formula from a saucer! Jellybean and Clementine are a little slow on that. As soon as they all figure that out, we can begin to introduce wet kitten food!


Here's Big Papa, chillin' with the kittens!


Big Papa started eating on his own, came out of isolation to hang out with the rest of the cats, took a liking to the bottle-fed kittens and then was adopted! Congratulations, sweetheart! I know the kittens will miss you, but we're so happy that you have your own forever home.




Unfortunately Anne Bonny, the sweet one eyed kitten, didn't make it. She went downhill so fast. After two days of back-to-back emergency vet appointments, the vet recommended euthanasia as the only humane option, she was too far gone. Anne Bonny was brought to the pound with her eyeball hanging out of her eye socket, went through a surgery when very young, still ended up on death row, was saved by a friend and given to us only to sub come to the horrible Upper Respiratory Infection she caught at the pound. Despite all this, she was the sweetest girl until the end and we spoiled her with as many hugs and kisses as we could. I'm sorry we failed you, sweetheart, but I'm honored to have cared for you in your last days.


Bedtime cuddling is serious business for Mara.


Mara continues to do well. She is so cuddly and sweet- and so very, very smart. What a cutie!