We live in a flat

Two months ago, Donna met Snow the Japanese spitz at the dog run again. Donna had actually met Snow when she was a small puppy about a year ago, but I’m not sure if they remembered each other.

Snow the Japanese Spitz – Popping on the back a submissive or calming signal?

They seemed to get along, but in a strange way. Every time Donna approached Snow, Snow would flop on her back like this.

Every time.

I read that dogs lie down as a calming signal or as an appeasement gesture to more assertive dogs. I’m not sure if this meant the dog is generally under stress, but Snow didn’t seem unhappy judging from her loose mouth and overall relaxed demeanor. So I left them to it.

Except that after a while, I got bored and tired of looking at Snow popping on her back every single time (haha!) so I called Donna away to a different spot in the dog run so she could think about playing with some other dogs instead.

We almost never meet a submissive dog like Snow so I didn’t think much about it until over the weekend when we attended a doggie birthday party.  Meet Sam Forest Loo Lim, probably the most submissive dog at the party…

Sam the JRT – Lying on the side a submissive or an appeasement signal?

Compared to Snow, I thought sweet little Sammy looked perhaps slightly more tensed because his ears were somewhat pinned back and his tail a little bit tucked inwards.

He stayed frozen in that pose the whole time Kanon the Japanese Spitz examined him until Kanon moved off.

And then Donna came in with her usual “Play with me” demand…

… and little Sammy flopped back down again.

Donna’s playbow was not heeded. 

…dogs clearly demarcate play by employing signals, such as play bows (i.e., putting the front half of the body on the ground while keeping the rear half up in the air) and exaggerated, bouncy movements. Anthropologist Gregory Bateson called play signals meta-communication, meaning communication about communication. Humans employ meta-communication a lot. For example, when teasing a friend, we may smile or use a certain tone of voice to indicate that we’re just kidding. Similarly, dogs play bow to invite play and to convey playful intentions during play. Marc Bekoff, while at the University of Colorado, did a study¹ showing that dogs are most likely to play bow just before or immediately after performing an especially assertive behavior, such as a bite accompanied by a head shake. This pattern suggests that playing dogs recognize moments when their behavior can be misinterpreted as serious aggression and compensate by reminding their partner, “I’m still playing.” – Is your dog’s rough play appropriate, TheBark.com via Hawk Brown Dog

No I don’t wanna play with you… I just want to lie here and freeze until you go away, crazy Donna. 

Or at least, that was what I thought Sam was saying.

But Sammy’s human shared with me that he wanted to play, but perhaps was just unsure because he was meeting Donna for the first time. That made sense too, if he were really fearful, perhaps Sammy would have scooted back to his human in a hurry.

But he remained… and Donna was still play-bowing him – – (Donna is probably in danger of becoming a bully i.e. a dog that keeps bugging another dog to play even if the other dog is showing resistance.)

And then this happened again…

Passive submission usually involves a dramatic reduction in activity with a goal of diverting attention, and is most often seen in a lower-ranking dog when threats are directed toward him by a higher-ranking member of the social group (dog or human). The dog’s ears may be pressed flat against the head, with his tail tucked between legs. The subordinate dog often freezes, averting eye contact, lowering his head and body, sometimes to the point of going “belly-up” on the ground. Passive submission may also be accompanied by submissive urination. – Understanding how dogs communicate with each other, whole-dog-journal.com

Sammy is a cheerleader?

They separated for the cake cutting and group photo taking. Afterwards, Donna and Kanon started to play. Now sometimes Kanon likes to mount other dogs, but Donna usually just spins around to shake him off.

This time, Donna was finding it a little difficult to spin him off because Sammy decided that he wanted to play too.

Does Sam want to play with Donna now or is this a Two vs One situation?? Kanon mounting Donna from behing and Sam jumping on Donna in front.

I was quite surprised that Sammy had no issues putting his paws on Donna because of his submissive gestures earlier. So I wonder if his actions belong to the active submission category…

Active submission may also be identified as attention-seeking behavior: nuzzling, licking (including licking ears and lips), jumping up, paw lifts and pawing motions, “smiling,” teeth clacking, crouching, pretzeling, and play-bows. The dog’s ears may be pulled back, and his tail may be wagging expressively, with wide, sweeping movements or circles. These behaviors can often be seen during greetings between dog and owner, or between friendly, compatible dogs. – whole-dog-journal.com

Sam’s human gave me more insight when she explained that Sam is the type of dog who likes to feel involved when other dogs are playing. Cheerleader style??

Cheerleaders.  Cheerleaders play on the outside of a group who is more physically involved.  They run around the outskirts of the group and bark, sometimes almost constantly.  Often times cheerleaders turn into the dreaded “fun police.”  These dogs can be great on one hand (they may break up play that is getting too rough by dispersing the playmates and allowing them to calm down) or problematic (they can cause fights because some dogs do not appreciate having their fun broken up). – Canine play styles -why they are important, teamunruly.com

In any case, they still appeared to be having fun so we continued to observe.

They broke up on their own.

And then resumed the two-versus-one game again.

And then they had another break on their own.

Some time later, they started playing again in the same way. By then, I had stopped taking photographs since they seem to be doing the same thing all over again.

But after a while, you could sort of feel they were a lot more excited this time than the previous bouts. There was play growling from Sammy, and I wasn’t sure if Donna was play growling as well. But as I watched I could see that the hair on her back was standing and her mouth was really tense and at times she mouthed him.

Now Sam is a small dog so by then I thought it was better to call Donna away, give them a timeout and stop the play on a high note rather than risk letting them carry on. I just wasn’t sure if it was wise for them to continue when Donna was so aroused since it’s the first time Donna was caught in a situation where she is closed in between two dogs. And also, I didn’t want Donna to accidentally hurt Sammy since he is so much smaller and lighter than her.

And since it’s the first time they met each other, I just rather be safe than sorry. If they ever meet again, I’ll be interested in seeing how they continue to interact.

Perhaps I can be considered as highly interventionist?? Hawk the Brown Dog shared with me an article that has an interesting take on dog interaction:

Sometimes it is obvious at the beginning of a bout that two dogs are playing, but once the dogs start growling or their arousal intensifies, observers may no longer be sure that the dogs are still playing.

After all, humans instinctively avoid a dog who is snarling or baring his teeth, and it is natural to think that our dogs should do the same. When people interrupt really rowdy play, they assume that they are “playing it safe,” that is, doing no harm.

But what if this assumption is mistaken? Our research shows that for many dogs, play fighting is the primary method used to negotiate new relationships and develop lasting friendships.

Although play is fun, it also offers serious opportunities to communicate with another dog. In this sense, play is a kind of language. Thus, when we regularly break up what we consider “inappropriate” play, are we doing our dogs a service, or confusing them by constantly butting into their private conversations? Most importantly, how can we tell the difference?

– Full article here Is your dog’s rough play appropriate, TheBark.com via Hawk Brown Dog

So while I’ll still continue to pull Donna aside for time outs with new dogs she is meeting when they get rowdy, I will probably let her handle these interactions on her own with dogs that we have met more consistently and are more familiar with across time.

Donna the Mongrel – Lying on her back an invitation to play?

I recently wrote about Donna sending a calming signal when she threw herself on her side to “surrender” when a 6-mth-old labrador puppy got too excited for her to deal with.

Ending this post with a video of Donna on her back for a different reason. The daycare told me she was showing more of a “look at me” posture, inviting the other dogs to play with her.

donna tries so hard from weliveinaflat on Vimeo.

She looked so relaxed wriggling around there but it’s funny how she was trying so hard but the Border Collie walked by twice and ignored her both times. It looked like nobody responded to poor Donna but the daycare assured me that the last dog at the end of the video responded to her invite. :P

So good. ;)

“You could walk a little slower, human… *pant pant*”

This is the face of a 5-year-old dog. Outplayed and outlasted by a 6-month-old chocolate lab puppy (that was about her size but bulkier). A month ago.

At first they had fun, but puppy was unstoppable and kept going after her even though she probably had fulfilled her quota for fun wrestling with salivary dog. :P She played with him still, but for the first time, she got so excited she was play-growling. I have never heard her growl during playing with another dog before so that’s new to me. But she has play growled with me when she gets too excited before, so I wasn’t too surprised. That’s usually the signal for me to give her a timeout.

It occurred to us we should separate them when Donna started the play growling. Have to say though that considering the action was fast and furious, the other lady (even smaller and slimmer than me) and I were probably somewhat at a loss how to separate them.

Donna didn’t seem particularly unhappy though, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I missed some calming signals from her.  And should have given them a time out sooner.

Eventually, enough was enough so she flung herself on the ground in a submissive gesture and puppy was onto her. We quickly move to separate them, but she had already darted off. Puppy gave chase but was no match for Donna’s speed.

Eventually they stopped and we were able to corner and separate the puppy from Donna.

So there you have it. Exhausted Donna. Outplayed, Outwitted and Outlasted by a 6 month old puppy.

At least she outran him. :P

I think it was still a good play session considering both dogs had fun and there was no antagonism between them even when things got a little wild. Just wondering if I was over-worrying over the play growling or I could have done better. :) I guess perhaps I should err on the cautious side and start giving them time outs earlier before they get too rambunctious for us to separate?

Eight months ago, I wrote about why my dog humps people/ other dogs. My conclusion was that she was not socialised to behave appropriately in a situation involving a lot of dogs. At the shelter, where there are a lot of dogs, it was normal for her to be over-excited and spinning in circles non-stop.

Subsequently, we’ve only been exposing her to places with less dogs, and hoping to slowly train calm behaviours from there. And then slowly expose her to situations with more dogs. But that’s easier said then done, because it’s really hard to control the number of dogs she is exposed to in a systematic or planned way. And sometimes, the human is not very consistent as well :P

So for a while we sent her to daycare, where she could socialise with other dogs in a supervised environment. The daycare said that Donna did not show any mounting behaviour for that period.

I’m wondering if the dog has learnt that mounting is not preferred but only in specific places like the daycare. That is, she has not generalised that mounting is not preferred in all circumstances.

I’m thinking this because this month, she has been showing mounting behaviour at the new places we went to. Although, I’m thinking there are different reasons for the behaviour as well.

Mounting Behaviour at T.A.Z. Cafe, Saturday

Take for instance at the newly opened T.A.Z. cafe. There were two active dogs there playing with each other. And Donna really wanted to play with them.

But they were totally engrossed with each other, and all Donna could do was follow them around and watch them play.

I suppose eventually, after getting tired of watching from the sidelines, she tried to mount the bigger dog in the pair to get his/her attention.

Only it got my attention instead, so I started to recall her… and recall her… and recall her every time she tried to mount the dog.

In this picture, Donna is by my side and can only watch the dogs play. I suppose it became more of a negative punishment (called away from other dogs = boring) than a positive reinforcement (called away from other dogs = get food reward for responding to the recall) because she didn’t really like the food for dog we bought for her at T.A.Z cafe … oops. But she got the idea and stopped trying to mount the dog. It helped that other dogs came in later who were happy to play with her.

I have to say, now that I’m looking at the pictures again, I do wonder if the dachshund was totally happy playing with the lighter dog or if the dachshund was trying to get away. I wasn’t paying as much attention to them as I was to Donna, unfortunately. But I do know that the owner examined the dachshund later on and was unhappy to find bite/scratch marks on the dog.

So please do supervise your dog when he/she is playing with strange dogs. :)

 

Mounting Behaviour at Marina Barrage, Sunday

The next day at Marina Barrage, Donna had a great time playing with her new Japanese spitz friend.

Her friend tried to mount her, but she didn’t try to mount back.

But later on when a male border collie arrived, she got very interested and mounted him within minutes of checking him out. That got the border collie worried.

I’m not sure how Donna decides to mount one dog but not the other. I can only guess that perhaps as the morning went by, she got progressively more excited with all the activity going around. I can’t say for sure though, because I was distracted with the activity around as well.

Donna has some experience with border collies at the daycare, and from what I hear, they don’t really play with her. The last border collie we met was on a walk at night. The border collie was barking madly and dragged his owner all the way to meet Donna. That took us by surprise and gave me a bad fright as Donna was screaming… but it turns out from excitement rather than from fear.

I think more exposure and observation is necessary before I can draw any informed guesses as to her motivations.

But needless to say, Donna spent the rest of the birthday party doing time out away from the other dogs.

The border collie’s owner remarked that if the other dog is ok with it, the humping shouldn’t be an issue. And I agree with that.

Gary Landsberg, DVM, a veterinary behaviorist in Ontario, Canada, says mounting is common play behavior in puppies, and is even normal in the play of older dogs if it’s not taken to extremes. “You’ll often see one dog mount another, then a few minutes later they’ll switch off and the other dog will mount the first dog,” Landsberg says. “It’s a common play gesture.”

It’s done by males and females, even by dogs that have been neutered or spayed, he says. “It’s a play behavior that dogs do because no one has told them it’s not acceptable,” Landsberg said. “It can become enjoyable or a normal part of the dog’s day, so it keeps doing it. It’s the same as jumping up or barking at the door.” – pets.webmd.com

But in Donna’s case, time out is necessary for the following reasons: –

• She was over excited and restless and didn’t try to stop mounting the border collie despite being recalled. Unlike at T.A.Z. cafe, this was an environment with more dogs. I do not want her to stay in that over-excited state.
• The border collie was worried and I shouldn’t let Donna give him more stress.
• In situations involving new dogs and owners we are meeting, even if the dog is OK, I do not know if the owner is OK with it.
• While humping may not be an issue if the dogs are good friends, I’m not sure if it sends Donna a confused message. Why is she allowed to mount some dogs but not others?

So as a rule, Donna is recalled when she starts to show mounting behaviour. And if she shows it repeatedly despite being recalled. She gets to do time right next to the human. :P

It’s a bummer for the human to sit out the action at the party, but I believe in being consistent with the dog. (Note: Mr P informs me that I didn’t really sit out for that long. Haha. )

Anyway, I’m thinking I should probably find something to attach her lead to some body part so I can walk around with her with me unencumbered for next time. That is, once she has calmed down sufficiently using the matwork, rather than just spend the time sitting on the mat the whole time.

I am comfy in my crate and I smell good. Get over it, human.

Because dogs do that.

A behind-the-scenes look at Donna’s behaviour during our photoshoot with food

You may have realised that most of my photos are candid shots from our day-to-day lives. It helps to capture those moments and diary our life with Donna, so there’s absolutely nothing wrong with such shots.

And I actually don’t like to spend time staging for pictures. I’m just plain lazy.

But it was one of those days, when I had a little bit of energy to do something different for once. So I decided to try to stage a picture of Donna launching up the table with her front paws, grinning at some treats.

The treats were plain boiled protein, nothing fancy. The fancy part involved having Donna stand on her two feet with her fore paws on the table supporting her vertical pose. And hopefully, I would be able to capture her grinning at the yummy treats.

The result was more outtakes than anything remotely useful.

Trial shots. Lots blurry shots because of bad indoor lighting. Decided the background over here is ugly. 

Of course, Donna was tempted by the fresh cooked food. But it’s easy enough to distract her from the styled food by rewarding her with the rest of the cooked food that was not being photographed.

She does know the “Leave it” command, but it was just funny looking at her struggling that I just let her mess up the display after a while :P

So the whole time, she was like a jack rabbit, hopping up and down the table with her front paws. She can’t hold the position very long, so she kept dropping and popping up again.

All that action made it very exciting for her so even though she usually doesn’t like the camera, she actually had quite a bit of fun with this shoot.

Moved treats to the other side of the table next to the wall so I get a clean background.
Made sure there is space for Donna to hop around between the table and the wall. 

And you know what, all that jumping is quite a workout for her!

Donna preferred the bigger space on the ugly side though. So she kept hopping up, dropping down, running to the other side and hopping up again. Almost like a those games where a head pops out of the hole and you’re supposed to hammer it back down again. :P 

She was a very happy dog that day because she had a lot of extra fresh cooked protein in her system during and after the shoot. And all for having a great time because hopping around rather than sleeping made it an exciting afternoon for her. ;)

The shot of the day: 
And also the only shot that was close to what I wanted. Have to say the image quality is poor because of poor lighting indoors, which meant I had to over-process. Not a good thing, but I’ll live.  ;)

A flower stuck over the doorway to my dog’s room. Kind of remains me of the top down photos people are forced to take of rooms that are too small for even a wide angle lens :P

Over the Chinese New Year period at the beginning of this year, I playfully stick this faux flower in Donna’s crate to give the ugly black thing some festive cheer.

And since Donna seemed to not care that it’s there, I left it there long after Chinese New Year had passed.

But will a dog always leave human things alone?

A month back I found the flower missing a leaf, hunted for it and found it half chewed on the floor covered with drool. No prizes who has been at it.

So now the crate is back to its original spartan self sans flower.

I have no need for sissy flowers!

Just because the dog left a human thing alone for now, does not mean she will leave it alone forever!

So the other day, after not getting my attention because I was busy hanging out the laundry to dry. Donna decided she needed to entertain herself in a corner of the room where she usually does not go to.

You know when the dog is quiet and sniffing around human furniture, alert bells go off…

So I strolled by and see my dog with a tea bag in her mouth. – – That lemongrass and ginger teabag was left on the bookshelf to keep lizards away. Not an afternoon snack for you, my dear.

Took it out of her mouth, half bitten, but still with the paper tag stapled to the string intact. That’s the thing I worry about most when she hunts down the teabags… the metal staples accidentally swallowed and piercing her on the inside.

I retrieved the tea bag with one hand so it’s not like she really wants to eat it. I guess she was just bored and once she had my attention, she was happy to let it go.

Sometimes, the dog doesn’t need attention and goes to her room to chill out by herself.

Now I know I wanted the crate to be the safe place for Donna. A place she feels that she can retreat to when she needs some “me time” on her own.

But when I find her with her one ear sticking up like this, I just couldn’t resist poking my camera in her face and intruding in her safe place. :P

Leave the dog alone, human! I’m sleepy… zZzZzZzZz…

Wouldn’t it be nice if both of us get bored at the same time rather than at different times?? :P

This post is as much about the dog’s behaviour as it is about the human’s! :P