Cheese Makes Everything Better

Contrary to the title, this post isn't really about cheese; it is about and reducing stress and relationship building. There is a lot of discussion about "emotional eating" for people, usually with the implication that it is bad. But eating really does decrease stress. We can use this with our dogs (and ourselves), the trick is to do it mindfully in a way that really does help with the stress. For myself, that means choosing something I like eating and eating it slowly. My dogs aren't very good at eating slowly. But I can feed them slowly in a calm manner that doesn't work them up. When I notice that they are having a bad day or have had a lot of stress recently, I'll sit down with them in a relaxed manner and just feed them their meal a bit at a time. They don't need to "work for it", they just get it because they need to eat in a low stress way.

What does all this have to do with the title? For Max, his favorite stress eating food is cheese. His life motto seems to be "Cheese Makes Everything Better."

Is Kibble Rewarding?

Food treats are a common reward, of course. But there is a whole wealth of food available. When using food as a treat, it is important to use food your dog values. A lot of people say that you shouldn't use kibble as a reward, but if it is sufficiently rewarding for your dog, then it's a great reward. When your dog is distracted, then they might need something they like better (then again, maybe your dog thinks kibble is the best thing ever.) All of my dogs have found kibble quite rewarding, but sometimes they liked other foods better. I think kibble tends to be more rewarding for my dogs because I rarely just give them a bowl of kibble, they get it as part of a game or as training treats. Also, I tend to have more than one variety of kibble on hand, to mix it up a little. Pico had dental problems, so I used dental kibble as one of her treats (she really liked it.) I've used the cat dental kibble a lot for training, it is more flavorful and smaller, so it can be eaten more quickly.

Look At That, Look At Me

One of my favorite games to play with my dogs is "Look at That, Look at Me." I originally learned it from the vet to help Hero with his fears and aggression, but it can be fun just to play in any situation where there is some kind of distraction to teach your dog an automatic check-in. When you see something that is likely to take your dog's attention (or if your dog notices something that gets them worked up); you say "Look at that!" in a happy and excited voice. They will (or already are) paying attention to whatever that is. Then you say "Look at me!" in the same happy or excited voice and give them a treat when they turn their focus toward you. You need to start playing this game with things that don't get your dog too excited that they can't pay attention to you. That can mean playing with low value items or far away from the stimulus. Obviously this only works if your dog is not so stressed that they don't care about food (although you may need to get better food too.)

Max and I play this a lot in order to earn breakfast. We sit out on the back porch with my coffee and his kibble. He wanders around on a tether and when things draw his attention, we will play a round. This is both desensitization (he is way too hyper about birds flying over our yard) and relationship building. We do a lot of rounds just based on his ears pricking up or his head turning in response to something he alone may notice, but we also do it for the things he is really distracted by, like large birds flying over head, squirrels in the yard, and people walking down the alley. Now that he knows the game well, we can use it in more stressful or potentially dangerous situations. For instance, the first time he figured out he could climb our fence he was interested in something and I used it to get him to come back to me for his treat (followed by a bunch more treats!)

Stress Signs - Refusing Food

Some dogs just aren't very food motivated (this is usually shocking to owners of highly food motivated dogs because it is such a big change.) But sometimes dogs, even food motivated dogs, don't want to eat because they are too stressed. Different dogs have a different threshold for how badly nerves affect their ability to eat. Max stops eating about as soon as he starts being nervous. Hero on the other hand would almost never get too nervous to eat.
Sometimes using higher value treats can help. This particularly helpful for dogs who are also calmed by eating. Don't worry, you won't spoil your dog by giving him extra yummy treats when they are nervous, if anything it will help with desensitizing them to the stressor.  

A particularly dangerous thing to watch for is dogs who quit drinking water when they are stressed. Not drinking for a little while is probably okay, but dehydration can be dangerous and just adds to the overall stress level.