Are Laser Pointers Safe for Your Puppy Dog?

By Aidan Bindoff

Are laser pointers safe to use with dogs for training or play? Some dogs have developed serious “obsessive-compulsive” type behaviors (known as a “stereotypie”) when allowed to chase the dot from a laser pointer, yet others do not develop these behaviors. So how do we know if our dog is at risk of developing a stereotypie when exposed to a laser pointer, and is the light dangerous to our dog’s eyes?

Some breeds seem to have a greater tendency to develop abnormal behavior when exposed to a laser pointer, but these breeds are also popular as Service Dogs and many have been trained to ‘target’ a laser dot in their work without developing abnormal behaviors. So, while some people say that certain breeds should not be allowed to play with laser dots, that does not mean that your particular dog of this breed will develop a stereotypie. Conversely, it does not mean that just because you don’t have a dog of one of these breeds your dog is safe, either.

Some signs that a stereotype may be developing are:

- pawing or scratching at the area/s where the dot was last seen for more than 1 minute after the dot has gone

- patrolling the area/s where the dot was last seen more than 1 minute earlier

- repeatedly returning to the area/s where the dot has been seen for no apparent reason other than to chase the dot again

- developing strong chasing behaviors for other light or shadow sources

If your dog displays any of the above signs then it is time to stop using the laser pointer as your dog is at risk of developing a serious behavioral problem. You should consult an experienced animal behaviorist if using a laser pointer is important to any of your training goals.

It is strongly recommended that you do not use the laser pointer to play games with your dog. Nearly every dog will enjoy chasing the laser dot, but it is not worth the risk. There are safer games to play, and dogs who enjoy chasing laser dots will probably be just as happy to chase a ball or play tug.

If you are training your dog to ‘target’ a laser dot, then approach training with the aim of minimising chasing behavior. Introduce movement slowly, and be mindful that you are teaching your dog to ‘target’ using some specific behavior that you have defined and trained. I suspect the risk of a stereotype developing is minimised when training is approached in this manner.

Treatment for obsessive light or shadow chasing should be performed under the guidance of a veterinary behaviorist. Medications are available which may be effective. Do not under any circumstances attempt to punish obsessive light or shadow chasing.

Is the light from a laser pointer safe for a dog’s eyes? Generally, the light emitted from a laser pointer is very weak and will probably only cause temporary dazzling if pointed directly into a dog’s eye by accident. Prolonged or repeated exposure could be harmful and should be avoided.

Aidan Bindoff is Editor of http://www.PositivePetzine.com, a free ezine for people training their own dogs. Each edition has easy to use training advice based on positive reinforcement methods. Subscribers have access to a large archive of back-issues they can consult for just about any behavior or behavior problem.

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Are Laser Pointers Safe for Your Puppy Dog? is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

Dog tricks and games also do serve the purpose of furthering our training too. The dog doesn’t know that rolling over is a game but coming when called isn’t. It’s all part of the great game of life!

Here’s a dog trick you and your dog can have fun with. It’s adapted from 101 Dog Tricks, by Kyra Sundance and Chalcy. Kyra (human) and Chalcy (Weimaraner) are dog trick show performers. More about the book further down the page… now, here’s an interesting trick!

Balance and Catch

WHAT IT IS: Your sitting dog balances a treat or a toy on his nose and hold it there. You say “Catch!” and he tosses it into the air and catches it before it hits the floor.

THE STEPS:

1. With your dog in a sit, hold his muzzle parallel to the floor and put a treat on his nose. Say “wait.” If you have a short-nosed breed, like a pug, this trick is harder but you could try a wet noodle or other bendable treat.

2. After a few seconds, let go of the dog and tell him “Catch!” At first the dog may allow the treat or toy to fall to the floor but if that keeps happening, pretend to race the dog to the treat and he will more likely catch it in midair.

TIPS: This will be easier for some dogs than for others, but all can enjoy it and benefit from practicing it. You will need to figure out where the best place is on your dog’s nose, in terms of balance.

This trick is taught with photos and drawings on page 27 of 101 Dog Treats.  The book starts out with basics like sitting and coming, and progresses through increasingly difficult tricks. I personally would never teach “Bring Me a Beer from the Fridge,” because once my dogs knew how to open the fridge, they wouldn’t go for the beer! (She does warn about that. Maybe if you had a small fridge in your family room…. dogs aren’t that good at generalizing, like from one fridge to another.)

Dog Tricks is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

Well, so what? We are all bored at times, aren’t we? Isn’t that just part of life?

If your dog is just bored and lies around, that’s one thing, but bored dogs may go looking for something fun to do. And that could be bad news for you…

I’ll never forget the time we came home from a few hours of doing errands. We had had our Rottweiler Lola a few months, and she was under a year old still. She had never paid attention to our vegetable garden before, but this time she must have been bored and looking for fun. She found it in the carrot bed…

When we got home, there were carrot greens and half-chewed carrots strewn all over the yard near where the carrots had been planted. She had not left a one.

Now, part of this was because I use carrots as rewards in dog training, so she knew the taste! But also, she was likely bored.

Two Ways to Avert Boredom in Dogs

Kongs

My all-time favorite way to entertain a bored dog is with a Kong , a large and virtually indestructable toy that you can fill with peanut butter, carrots (a proven favorite at our house obviously!), dog food, all sorts of things…

See my page called Dog Toy Kong for lots of tips. Here’s a link to a large one at Amazon:Big Black Kong

..and my favorite online store Sitstay has them and similar items… see the links down the sidebar a ways.

I keep our several Kongs on top of the refrigerator, well out of reach since the aroma of peanut butter can linger! I don’t let the dogs have them in any rooms with carpets, but most of our floors are tile.

There are other similar things. When we had a Basenji, she was greatly entertained by a Buster Cube, where she had to roll it around to get little bits of her dry food to fall out. Believe me, if you ever have a Basenji, you really want them to be entertained! For the ten years of Sunbeam’s life, we never could have a trash basket on the floor.

Exercise

Hey, we all know that exercise is good for our dogs AND for us. There are some dogs who will really tear a house apart when you leave if they haven’t had enough exercise. But a long walk, some ball playing or whatever it takes, and they become very mellow. If you have a dog or puppy like this, you know it! Got a Border Collie? Hmm, the minimum amount of exercise should keep you in great shape too!

Readers, how do you avert boredom in your dogs?

Is Your Dog Bored? is a post from: Training Dogs Blog

There is a movement afoot to encourage us to play with our dogs. New books and DVDs are coming out, and training experts are suggesting that we lighten up and play. Great advice for most humans, I’d say, and most dogs could have told us that in the first place. In this tip, I’m talking about human-dog play, but dog-dog play is also valuable for our canine friends.

So how can you use play in training? Here are two ways:

1. You can use play as a reward when the dog does something you want it to. For example, you ask your dog to sit and it does. At the moment of sitting, you click your clicker if you are using one (get my free ebook  Seven Steps to Clicker Training Success with Your Dog to find out more about clicker training), or you say “Yes!” or “Good!”

Then instead of giving the more conventional food reward, you whip a toy out of your pocket. It could be a chew toy for a tug of war or a squeaky toy for the dog to chase… whatever your dog likes and is appropriate for your location.

2. The whole training project can be turned into something fun. For example, if you want your dog to walk on a loose leash, one of the main tricks to teaching this  is to stop abruptly if the dog is pulling out in front of you. In some versions of this method, you then walk the other way. Well, depending on your fitness and the dog’s size, this can be turned into pure play:

You and the dog are walking along together on leash, in a place with enough space for movement in various directions. The dog starts pulling. You quickly go off in another direction — it can be 180 degrees, but it can be any angle. If necessary, you take a few walking steps to get the dog heading in the right direction, then you jog or flat out run a ways, the dog happily keeping up. You can slow to a more moderate pace, but then the moment the dog pulls ahead, you charge off in a new direction. I’m almost out of breath just writing about this, but I could keep it up for quite a few changes. How about you?

If you have favorite ways of playing with your dog that have a training element, do comment below!

Dog Training Tips: Play as You Train Your Dog is a post from: Training Dogs Blog