Using Distractions Ep174

ep174-using-distractions

===

[00:00:00] chrissy neumyer smith: This week we're talking about distractions. Does using a distraction make life easier? Make life harder? Is it helpful for the dog? What kind of distractions can we use and how can we effectively use them? Find out this week. This is the Creating Great Grooming Dog Show. I'm Chrissy Neumeyer Smith. I'm a master groomer behavior specialist, a certified professional groomer, a certified behavior consultant for canines, a certified professional dog trainer and instructor at Whole Pet Grooming Academy.

[00:00:28] And the owner of Happy Critters in Nashua, New Hampshire. And this is my friends and colleagues, is the podcast work, grooming and training meet.

[00:00:41] Let's talk about distractions. Um, a listener asked me this this morning and I was like, oh, what a great episode idea. So there are lots of ways that we can distract a pet so that maybe we can get the job done. But here's the thing, what does the pet get out of that distraction? And I know somebody out there is like, what?

[00:01:01] That's ridiculous. What, what are you talking about? Everything we do should be helping this dog, this pet, this animal, be better for the next grooming. And I think sometimes when we use distractions, we're using them so that we can be sneaky. C, C, C didn't tin didn't tin, right? Like they're, they're looking at something else and we like really quickly go snap, snap and trim off a couple nails like.

[00:01:27] That can make our dogs very suspicious. Those are the dogs who become very suspicious. They're like, I gotta keep an eye on her. She does stuff at random and we don't want our dogs to be suspicious. That's not a really great use of a distraction, and it comes up, I will say. I used to be a vet tech, and there are times where you're going to be doing something that you just distract the animal for a couple minutes, okay?

[00:01:56] Or for a couple seconds while something's being done. And maybe it, they are being tricked, right? Maybe it's like, oh, hey, look over here. CC didn't hurt, didn't hurt, didn't hurt. Um, but not something they're going to need to be doing on regular intervals for their entire life. And that. My friends is the big difference for using distractions during grooming.

[00:02:17] We want these animals to be able to handle this. We want them to be able to be good for grooming. They have a lifetime of grooming needs. There is no point in a dog's life where their grooming needs are no longer there. Okay. That 15-year-old dog that gets stressed out, freaks out and has a seizure, still has grooming needs.

[00:02:40] Okay? I want you to think about that. So everything we do is to help these dogs be better for the next grooming. And for future groomings and to trust us and to know that this is safe. So distractions are still a handy tool, but let's put it in perspective. Is this distraction helping this dog? Hmm. Let's think about that for a minute.

[00:03:06] So let's talk about some of the distractions available to us. We get a list of distractions here. We have head tapping, we have body tapping. When you're just kind of tapping on their body, like on maybe it's their leg or their paws, some area away from the area you're working on, we could be petting. That could be a distraction.

[00:03:23] Food could be a distraction. That's one of the many ways to use food. Anytime somebody says, I've tried food. I'm like, food's just a tool. There's so many ways to use food. Food could be a distraction. Toys. Could be a distraction. Um, somebody talking silly could be a distraction. Some of our silly talk, it's almost like a squeaky toy, silly talk.

[00:03:45] Um, other people could be a distraction. Um, some other activity going on in the room might be a distraction that you take advantage of. So what I mean by that is, um, let's say this dog is super focused. Every time dogs are coming and going and you're like, oh, cool. He is way focused on that other dog leaving.

[00:04:03] I could just go ahead and do these nails while he's focused on that or do this one nail while he is focused on that. So there are lots of different types of distractions that we can use. But, and here's the thing, the dog has to find it helpful. So I still want the dog to know that we are doing something and that's maybe, you know.

[00:04:28] Cleaning an ear, trimming a tail, turning on a dryer, turning on a grinder, putting a clipper near his armpit, whatever that is. I still want the dog to know that we are doing it, and then the distraction might be to help them work through it better. So I'm gonna give you a human example. My human examples again.

[00:04:51] Um. I, I'm kind of a big sissy about getting blood drawn. Now. I'm willing, I'm a willing participant. I am consenting, but I'll tell you what, I can't watch. Cannot watch somebody put a needle in my arm. So I'm there, ready, able, willing. I want them to tell me exactly when it's gonna happen, but then I also look up on the wall.

[00:05:16] I'm like, oh, hey, are those pictures of your kids? You know, tell me what that's about. Like talk to me, do something to distract me from this. That would be the kind of distractions I want for our dogs. Listen, I'm a little bit nervous and I know she's over there by my back foot, but if you can pet me and talk to me, that's a nice distraction.

[00:05:36] So that's a way to use a distraction, but not take away from the training that we're trying to do, which is, by the way, I'm going to be over here trimming nails. Touching your foot, ding your tail, whatever it may be that we are working on. We still want that dog to know that we are working on something.

[00:05:58] That we're over there doing something and that they can handle it. So the distraction isn't just to keep them from knowing that we're doing stuff. And, uh, I give can give you another example. I've had so many, so many owners when I'm at their house and I pull out nail tremors and go, okay sweetie pie nails are next.

[00:06:18] And I hold the nail trimmers in front of them and let them see it and then go to do their nails. And the owner's like, oh, he is not gonna let you do it now, now that he knows, I'm like. But we don't wanna sneak up on them. That's why they're crazy for nails. Okay. This sneaky stuff is why. That's why if I can teach them like, okay, nails are next.

[00:06:39] And you need to be calm and we're gonna calm you down, calm, comfortable, and cooperative, help you be, help you through this. Then what happens is any distractions I do are for the dog's comfort to help them be more comfortable with it. And you can actually like grind nails or do nails while also petting a dog.

[00:07:01] I know, right? Sometimes the hand that's holding a dog still can be petting it. Maybe it's just one finger. Just kind of petting. Maybe it's just a, like the pinky finger has a little extra job to just pet that leg. All right. But this purpose is for the dog to be comfortable with the procedure that we're doing, not to sneak up on them and get it done.

[00:07:25] Again, maybe in veterinary medicine, but not really great for teaching a dog to be good for this lifelong skill. I want you to think about a 15 year lifespan on the average dog. Many, many dogs live a lot longer than that, and they're getting groomed every four to eight weeks. Right. So much of their lifetime, so many hours of their life are going to be spent being groomed.

[00:07:56] So many hours. So we need to think about that and we need to help them be comfortable with the stuff that we need to do. All of the stuff and things, and being sneaky backfires. So if I'm over there thinking, oh good, while you're petting him, I'm just gonna come back over here and give a quick yank. Get the rest of that mat out and the dog's like, ah.

[00:08:21] Right. That's why distractions don't work. If we startle the dog and we scare the dog because we were distracting them, that will backfire. Not good training, and I'm not saying it doesn't happen by accident. It can definitely happen by accident, but that's not our training goal. We want them to be more comfortable.

[00:08:42] So when we distract, we need to have this awareness of what is this doing for our future grooming. How is this going to help this dog be more comfortable? And then, then it becomes kind of clear. We also need to figure out what this dog likes. What does this dog prefer as a distraction? Because their preferences are part of this dog training is so individual.

[00:09:10] Every dog is different. And I think that the more we think about that, the better we'll be at figuring out, well, how can I help this dog? And that's why I often hear things like, oh, I tried that and it didn't work. Who did you try it on? What did you try? Like, we can't just throw it out. The Oh, didn't work on this one dog.

[00:09:30] I tried food and it didn't work for this one dog. You know, we need to try more stuff and anybody out there who thinks they've tried everything, I assure you, none of us have tried everything. None of us. I haven't tried everything. You haven't tried everything. There's always more to try and that's what makes training so neat.

[00:09:51] But for non trainers, that's what makes training so frustrating. But every dog is an individual, and we'll talk about that more in the next part. If you're enjoying the podcast, please remember to subscribe or follow and tell all your friends. And if you'd like to support the show, you can go to creating great grooming dogs.com and follow the buy me a coffee link.

[00:10:10] I'd really appreciate it. How do we figure out what a dog would like for a distraction? Some dogs do not want a distraction. So we need to think about this individual in front of us. And again, I'm gonna frame it out because it really is the easiest way to remember, is it helping this dog be calm, comfortable, and cooperative?

[00:10:32] Are they being calmer while I do this distraction? Or is it getting them silly or is it making them agitated that the head tapping as an example. Um, lot of times dogs actually like head tapping. You tap it on their head and they're like, look, kinda neat. Okay, my dogs like that. We can hang out and like, and tap it on the top of their head and they think it's fun.

[00:10:54] Um, maybe not in all circumstances. Generally they're not gonna mind that other dogs are gonna find that really irritating. So as a distraction, that would really backfire on us. That's that individual dog finds what we're doing irritating on top of something that they already find irritating. Remember, the thing about grooming that dogs have trouble with is that they find it unpleasant, uncomfortable, and or scary.

[00:11:21] So any distractions that we do, we don't want to incorporate more unpleasant, uncomfortable, or scary. We're trying to soothe this dog. We're trying to help them feel better. We're trying to help them through this process. So what does this dog like? Is this dog gonna be pretty happy if somebody's over there going, do you want some treats while we do this?

[00:11:45] Like, oh, a lot of dogs are like, oh yeah. Treats while we do this, ah, kind of changes things, right? While we still are being mindful that I need this dog to know. What I'm working on. I need this dog to know that I'm working on that mat by his ear. I'm not gonna be sneaky about it. I'm gonna be very, very obvious.

[00:12:06] Hey, I'm gonna work on this mat on your ear. Go ahead and chew in some cookies, or I'm gonna work on this mat. I'm gonna be brushing this ear while your owner or somebody else is maybe petting you and talking to you. Okay. I wanna be obvious about the actions that I'm doing, the thing that the dog finds.

[00:12:25] Hard, difficult, scary, unpleasant, uncomfortable, right? I want them to know I'm doing it and whoever is distracting, or whatever distraction we're using should be helping the dog feel like this is more pleasant. Okay, so again, circling back to our list of distractions, our list of things, right? We have head tapping and body tapping.

[00:12:51] Sometimes if we're working on, let's say, um, let's say there's an injured toe on the front leg for a lot of dogs, some injury could turn into something that they're really nervous about for a long time. Maybe they just need somebody to kind of gently pet them while we work on what used to be the injured toe.

[00:13:11] Okay. Then we can have somebody maybe tapping a, another area of their body or groomers when we're working alone. Sometimes I'll tap with my elbow while I'm doing something with my hands. I know non groomers don't know how many, how many different things a groomer can be doing at once. So maybe I'm brushing near that toe, holding that foot with my left hand, brushing that toe with my right hand and tapping that dog's rib cage with my left elbow.

[00:13:42] Or I have a foot up near the table and I can be tapping their foot with my foot. Think about that. These distractions are just to help the dog feel more comfortable with it. So that could be an example of tapping on the body. We also have petting. Yeah, can you just pet a little bit? There's no reason why petting can't be used to.

[00:14:04] If it helps soothe dogs, then go ahead and pet them. Keeping in mind, dogs have very specific preferences about petting what they like and what they don't like. Um, some dogs do not like the kind of rough, aggressive petting, and some dogs do not like the really gentle petting. Know the dog, figure out what they like, what makes them happy.

[00:14:27] And you might think, oh, well, owners would know that, man. Some of the things we see owners doing when they're like, oh, he loves it. I'm like, I just told you his ears are sore. Why are you scrubbing his ears like you're gonna rip him off? Oh, he loves it when I do that. Like, he just loves you. He doesn't love that.

[00:14:45] So think about what does this dog enjoy? 'cause we don't want more unpleasant, uncomfortable. Scary on top of the problem, which is that dogs find grooming, unpleasant, uncomfortable, or scary. So back to our list, we also have toys. If a dog thinks that maybe a squeak of a squeaker or having a little stuffed animal in his mouth is helpful and fun, cool, as long as it's not making them extra silly.

[00:15:16] Okay. Because extra silly can be extra wiggly, which of course is again, a safety risk. We are working with sharp tools and we can't hurt dogs just because we wanna make them silly. So think about that. If it's a toy, is it making them too silly? Or is this some area where, hey, while I'm working on your back leg, you can be a little bit silly at your front end.

[00:15:37] Maybe we let them lay down on the, on the table while we're d matting an area of their back leg and they're over there with a squeaky toy and playing with it with their front paws in their mouth. Cool beans, if that helps them while they know exactly what you're doing. So toys, toys are another distraction that we could use.

[00:15:57] Could be very effective, could backfire on us. Um, other people. That could be another groomer that could be, um. The owner. That could be people coming and going activity in the room, right? Just people coming and going. Maybe every time a new person opens the front door, that dog's like, whoa, what's going on out there?

[00:16:19] 'cause some dogs are just really curious about that. If that gets them interested in something else while you're like, okay, why don't you look out there while I also, I'm over here at your back foot touching this nail. Gonna do this one. Okay, you good? For a lot of dogs, that kind of distraction is really effective and they're looking around like, oh, cool, there's something else to do.

[00:16:39] Instead of just thinking about what she's doing to me. But we still want them to know what we're doing on them, to them, with them, with our stuff and things we want them to know because this is a lifetime of grooming. We don't wanna trick dogs, we will make dogs very, very suspicious if we just take advantage and we're like, oh yeah, well, he won't usually let me do it, so I'll do it when he's not looking.

[00:17:06] We make dogs very suspicious that way. And um, before we wrap this up, I'm gonna give an example. Um, every time I hear an owner say, oh, well we are trying to do his nails at home. We even do them when he's asleep. We can do one nail before he wakes up and screams and runs away. Oh my God, what are you doing?

[00:17:29] Stop that. Right? I know there are a lot of people out there going, well, that just seems pretty harmless, except that we're now teaching dogs to be super worried about anybody near their feet. Can you imagine waking up to find somebody doing stuff to you that you have already expressed scares you? And every time you wake up, there's like somebody there with, you know.

[00:17:52] Cutting your hair or something, it would be terrifying. Stop adding more unpleasant, uncomfortable, and scary to the situation. And that's what happens when we try to be sneaky. Trying to be sneaky and just get it done adds more unpleasant, uncomfortable, right? We don't want that. We don't want these dogs to be scared.

[00:18:16] We want them to be comfortable with it. So as we work on uncomfortable. Our distractions have to also tell them what we're doing. I am going to do this. Would you like this distraction? And a lot of dogs, a distraction is gonna work out just fine. They're like, oh, okay. Yeah. This isn't so bad. You know, maybe having somebody just.

[00:18:40] You know, playing with them a little bit, giving them some ear scritchy while you work on a mat on their tail is enough for them to be like, okay, this isn't, it isn't what I thought it was. I thought she was gonna do mean things to my tail, but that's not what's happening. Now. I know I'm being very anthropomorphic and I'm adding human words to a dog's brain, but don't we see it?

[00:19:03] Haven't we observed that? That if we make them more comfortable, if it's making them more comfortable, they will put up with our shenanigans. And if it's not making them more comfortable, sometimes in a quiet room with nothing else going on, and the only thing you have in your little doggy brain to think about is what they're doing to that mat on your tail, right?

[00:19:24] That can make a dog really nervous. Use a distraction, give it a try. Every dog is an individual. Distractions can be really, really helpful. But like I said, just let's just be mindful of the idea that we want these dogs to be better for it in the long term. So whenever we use a distraction, let's think about what we are teaching that dog in that moment, and are we teaching?

[00:19:49] Teaching them that they can trust us or are we teaching them that we're sneaky? Distractions can be really helpful, but let's use them in the right way. If you're enjoying the podcast and you wanna learn more, you can find me at creating great grooming dogs.com. You can contact me through whole pet nh.com and you can find me on Facebook creating great grooming dogs Facebook group, creating great grooming dogs Facebook page.