Does your dog’s ability to escape from the back yard have you convinced that he’s nothing less than a hairy Houdini?

Recommendations:

• We recommend expanding your dog’s world and increasing his “people time” in the following ways:
• Walk your dog daily. It’s good exercise, both mentally and physically (for both of you!).
• Teach your dog to fetch a ball or Frisbee'” and practice with him as often as possible.
• Teach your dog a few commands or tricks. Try to hold a lesson every day for five to ten minutes.
• Take an obedience class with your dog and practice what you’ve learned every day.
• Provide interesting toys (Kong™-type toys filled with treats or busy-box toys) to keep your dog busy when you’re not home.
• Rotate your dog’s toys to make them seem new and interesting.
• Keep your dog inside when you’re unable to supervise him. (This will also keep him safe and prevent any possibility of his being stolen from your yard.)
• If you must be away from home for extended periods of time, take your dog to work with you or to a “doggie day care centre,” or ask a friend or neighbour to walk your dog.

Sexual Roaming

Dogs become sexually mature at around six months of age. Like a teenager first feeling the surge of hormones, an intact male dog has a strong, natural drive to seek out females. As you can imagine, it can be difficult to prevent an intact dog from escaping when his motivation to do so is very high.

Recommendations:

• Have your male dog neutered. Studies show that neutering will decrease sexual roaming in about 90% of    If an intact male has established a pattern of escaping, he may continue to do so even after he’s neutered, which is even more reason to have him neutered as soon as possible.
• Have your female dog spayed. If your intact female dog escapes your yard while she’s in heat, she’ll probably get pregnant (and she could be impregnated even if she stays in your yard). Millions of unwanted pets are euthanized every year. Please don’t contribute to the pet overpopulation problem by allowing your female dog to breed indiscriminately.

Fears and Phobias

Your dog may be escaping out of fear, especially if he’s exposed to loud noises, such as thunderstorms, firecrackers, or construction sounds.

Recommendations:

• Identify what is frightening your dog and desensitize him to it. You may need to seek out the help of a professional trainer or talk to your veterinarian about anti-anxiety medications that might help your dog while you work on behaviour modification.
• Keep your dog indoors if there is any chance he may encounter the fear stimulus outside. You can even mute
• outside noises by creating a comfortable spot in a basement or windowless bathroom and turning on a television, radio, or loud fan.
• Provide a “safe place” for your dog. Observe where he likes to go when he feels anxious, then allow access to that space, or create a similar space for him to use when the fear stimulus is present.

Separation Anxiety

Your dog may be trying to escape due to separation anxiety if:

• He escapes as soon as, or shortly after, you leave.
• He displays other behaviours that reflect a strong attachment to you, such as following you around, greeting you wildly, or reacting anxiously to your preparations to leave.
• He remains near your home after he’s escaped.

Factors that can cause a separation-anxiety problem:

• Your family’s schedule has changed, and that has resulted in your dog being left alone more often.
• Your family has recently moved to a new house.
• Your family has experienced the death or loss of a family member or another family pet.
• Your dog has recently spent time at an animal shelter or boarding kennel.

Recommendations:

• Assuming your dog has been correctly diagnosed as suffering from separation anxiety, the problem can be resolved using counter-conditioning and desensitization techniques.

Correction

• Never correct your dog after he’s already left the yard. Dogs associate punishment with what they’re doing at the time they’re punished. Punishing your dog after the fact won’t eliminate the escaping behaviour but will probably make him afraid to come to you.
• Never correct your dog if the escaping is related to fear or is due to separation anxiety. Punishing a fearful response will only make your dog more afraid and make the problem worse. In addition, avoid inadvertently reinforcing a fearful behaviour-such as petting a frightened dog and saying, “It ‘s okay.”

Only correct your dog if you can administer correction at the moment your dog is escaping, and only if he doesn’t associate the correction with you. If you can squirt him with a hose or make a loud noise as he is going over, under, or through the fence, it might be unpleasant enough that he won’t want to do it again. If he realizes that you made the noise or squirted the water, however, he’ll simply refrain from escaping when you’re around. This type of correction is difficult to administer effectively and won’t resolve the problem if used by itself. You must also give your dog less reason to escape and make it more difficult for him to do so. Ultimately, that is how you’ll put a permanent stop to that “Hairy Houdini” act.

© The Humane Society of the United States.

Kitten Behaviour Basics

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, especially for cats. The fact is, well-socialized cats are more likely to have well-socialized kittens. Kittens often mirror their mothers’ calm or fearful attitude toward people; this is a normal part of their socialization. But you can play a vital role, too, by petting, talking, and playing with kitty to help her develop good “people skills.”

Kittens are usually weaned at six to seven weeks, but may continue to suckle for comfort as their mother gradually leaves them for longer periods of time. Orphaned kittens, or those weaned too soon, are more likely to exhibit inappropriate suckling behaviours later in life, such as sucking on blankets, pillows, or your arm.  Ideally, kittens should stay with their littermates (or other “role-model” cats) for at least 12 weeks.

Kittens orphaned or separated from their mother and/or littermates too early often fail to develop appropriate “social skills,” such as learning how to send and receive signals, what an “inhibited bite” (acceptable mouthing pressure) means, how far to go in play-wrestling, and so forth. Play is important for kittens because it increases their physical coordination, social skills, and learning limits. By interacting with their mother and littermates, kittens explore the ranking process (“who’s in charge”) and also learn “how to be a cat.”

Kittens who are gently handled by people 15 to 40 minutes a day during the first seven weeks are more likely to develop larger brains. They’re more exploratory, more playful, and better learners. Skills not acquired during the first eight weeks may be lost forever. While these stages are important and fairly consistent, a cat’s mind remains receptive to new experiences and lessons well beyond kittenhood. Most cats are still kittens, in mind and body, through the first two years of life.

Seven to Fourteen Weeks: Most Active Play Period

• Social and object play increases kitten’s physical coordination and social skills. Most learning is by observation, preferably of their mother.
• Social play includes belly-ups, hugging, ambushing, and licking.
• Object play includes scooping, tossing, pawing, mouthing, and holding.
• Combined social/object play includes tail chasing, pouncing, leaping, and dancing.

Copyright © 2004 The Humane Society of the United States. All rights reserved.