In an effort to try to whittle away at Mira's excess energy, yesterday I tried giving her only her daily ration of dog food. Almost no treats (I set aside a little portion of kibbles for emergency "trades") or little scraps of food and she's been much more calm, last evening and this morning - even a little sleepy. I don't know if my experiment worked or she's possibly coming down with something. I feel like it makes sense - that without the near-constant stream of calories she'd have less energy - but I'm also neurotic about her health. Has anyone tried to decrease calorie intake specifically to decrease energy and seen a difference?
Hmm, this is what you should have been doing all the time. The treats are not an in addition to the kilojoules per day but just a form of distribution of the amount you have allocated to the dog.
Yes. You work out how much the dog should be getting, which can vary on how much activity the dog is doing. The dog gets that allocation as several meals for free, or you divide it into portions, one for free and one for treats, or it's all treats and nothing is for free. Recently I had to teach my younger dog scent detection. Every time she found the Earl Grey tea she had to be given a treat--in scent detection one never moves to a variable rate of reinforcement. It is always continuous reinforcement. She's not into praise that much nor has she ever been fond of tug toys. If the treats had been in addition to her normal meals then her weight would have been an issue. So I reduced the size of her meals for free to account for what she was getting as treats. Kilojoules are kilojoules no matter how they are distributed. PS I sometimes used raw carrot as treats and worried less about the amount of treats she was getting on those days.
Yes, I was reducing the size of her meals to account for the treats (eyeballing it, anyway). I was just thinking that the steady supply of calories throughout the day (by giving treats for this or that behavior) was giving her too much continuous energy and by limiting the calorie intake to meal times, she'd run out of energy more predictably. I'm not convinced any longer that it's made a difference, though. After a sleepy morning her activity level today has been pretty high/normal, but we're also kind of stuck inside because of the cold. I don't know, maybe she's agitated or anxious about something.
Maybe do some training inside. Stays are easy to do inside the house. Heeling without a lead in close quarters is also good. Or you may try teaching her targeting,. My experience is that dogs love it. The Lab in my avatar just copied the targeting behaviour of the younger dog, who had been formally taught. She observed just two sessions and was presenting herself for a reward too.
We do training inside the house - target, heeling, all that. She's good at it but I'm sort of sick of having to "manage" her all day with training or playing or activities. She just seems so restless most of the day and I was thinking it was the continuous calories. I don't even want to give her a reward for calmness because of the calories. She's been cooped up recently anyway, getting over spaying, and now it's snowing. She's been barking out the windows all day off and on for no reason I can see (dogs can be heard around the neighborhood, though). My mind is jumping to something being physically wrong with her.
No I don't think there is anything wrong. Just bored I would think. I'm not suggesting you have to keep her entertained all day long. But it would help you to get some peace if you tired her out mentally. Doing the same task in targeting for example is not going to tire her out mentally. You can teach her to close the fridge door by transferring the targeting to your hand to the refrigerator. That is, you raise the crierion of what you wish to achieve with the targeting. Will she retrieve? Teaching that via shaping will help to tax her brain. Pippa has a folder on retrieve via shaping. As an end goal you could get your dog to help with loading the front-loading washing machine. Again not suggesting you must be the entertainer. Just trying to help. But when I teach my dog something new I find she would sleep for the next hour or so. To be sure, she is a much older dog than your dog. https://totallygundogs.com/clicker-trained-retrieve/
Oh, I didn't mean to say you were suggesting that I entertain her or criticize the advice - but that entertainment is what she sort of demands. And a lot of the suggestions (from everywhere) for getting rid of boredom involve more effort/money on my part (train this behavior or buy that toy), which is so discouraging when I feel like I'm using every ounce of energy I have now to look after her now. Maybe I'm working hard and not smart. I'm trying out her kong again tomorrow with some of her food frozen in it for an "alone time" brain game and I want to get the old puppy backpack out of storage. But I'll have to wait until it warms up; harness plus coat plus backpack? I'd feel like I was tacking up a horse. Might as well pop a bit in her mouth while I'm at it. I'd love to ignore the attention-seeking misbehavior that requires so much managing, so as not to reinforce it and/or further aggravate the both of us, but I live with people and any barking, getting into things (things which I would love to put away but can't), etc., can't be ignored or exercised out of her this time of year. The neighborhood dogs are always going nuts outside which disturbs her and may be why she's barking, but I also keep thinking I'm seeing an intermittent, slight limp (and maybe some extra gas). She's been running and jumping around the house and yard like a mad woman, but still I'm keeping an eye on her. Maybe she's restless because of pain? She is good at retrieving. I can point to anything and she'll bring it over to me for a treat. We've worked on putting toys away and some sniffing/finding games (which I heard were mentally tiring), but I don't know about the washing machine! She can unload it, does that count?
Oh you have done lot of work with her. I'm impressed. No wonder she is bored. She is smart.and the dog equivalent of Tony Hancock on a Sunday afternoon at home. Here is a suggestion with no additional cost, except time. Leave the dirty clothes in the bedroom and bathroom. Teach her to put them in the front loader. Initially, have the clothes near the machine so that you can reinforce her for putting the clothes in. Over repetitions gradually move the clothes farther away from the machine. You might need another cue than fetch because you want to teach fetch and put in washing machine as a chained complex behaviour. You don't need to put a coat on her, do you? Doesn't she have a double coat? The primary concern is the condition of her paws. The ice can damage her pads. Have fun. She sounds like a terrific dog.
I will try getting her to hand stuff to me, because the washer loads from the top. And maybe take stuff out of the dryer *nicely* one item at a time (they’ll be covered in her slobber anyway at some point). Maybe we’ll do that with some of her breakfast tomorrow. I probably don’t need to put a coat on her, but I’m that dog mom. I do worry about her feet, I’d put little booties on her too if I thought she’d tolerate them. I want to get her some ointment or moisturizer or something because they’re rough.
Ah so you are North American! How cold is it outside? I used to live in Central Michigan. I can understand your reluctance to venture outside.
I'm in Colorado! It's been cold, snowy, and windy the past two days. It blew Mira's little jacket up from behind - she looked like Marilyn Monroe (minus the coquettish attempts to push the jacket back over her booty, Mira just enjoyed the breeze). Poor girl wanted to go to the park so bad but she'd have to start picking up her feet after about a minute standing in the snowy grass - which my heart can't take. But it looks clear this morning, with a high of 48 predicted, so hopefully the snow will melt and she can have some fun today. I couldn't dog Michigan with a dog! Yowza. Not a lab anyway. Maybe one of those little dogs that just wants to curl up on your lap. And matures at 6 months old. And can't pull you around. Actually that sounds ideal for Colorado, too...
I lived for three years in Virginia. Blue Ridge mountain. Freezing rain in winter and awful humidity in summer. No point in showering. But I never got to see anything of the west, apart from LA and San Francisco. While there In the late 70's never saw a Lab. People had no idea what they were.
I've never been to the south, but I was raised in Missouri and I do remember the humidity. It's awful. In Colorado it feels dry all the time - I don't know why. The elevation? Mira's coat gets so flaky I don't think I've given a full bath since I got her. I'd let her play in the hose in the summer to cool off and the next day she'd be covered in flakes. I lived in Arizona for a long time and I was so glad this summer Mira didn't have to walk in extreme heat, now of course it sounds nice. You should have seen Mira doing laundry with me! I've never been able to fully convey the concept of "put this in there" to her, but she was happy to hand me clothes to put in the washer and remove them piece by piece from the dryer to give to me. After a while I didn't even have to ask, just gesture. I think she enjoyed the task. Have you ever used a backpack to give a dog a "job" on a walk? Do you think that really works?
No I've never used a backpack on a dog. I'd be worried about putting any additional weight on my dog. I'm impressed with your new laundry assistant.
My Newfie used to wear paniers on a long hike. Mainly with his bowl, a few snacks and a bit of water. Nothing really heavy. He was a huge, strong and long 70kg dog. He loved wearing it as knew it was time for fun. I would not do the same for my lab, she’s too small and would worry about hurting her.
I was worried about that too - the weight. (Bah, so many things to worry about!) I think leaving it empty would be pointless. It'd be like the jacket, which doesn't especially "focus" her.
