Making Music With A Beagle?

Transcript for:

MR. SAM LITZINGER

12:17:33

Welcome back to "The Animal House." I'm Sam Litzinger with Dr. Gary Weitzman of the San Diego Humane Society. Call us at 1-877-610-3647 if you have an animal-related question. You can send your question via email to animalhouse@wamu.org. Don't forget to visit our "Animal House" Facebook page to see animal news, videos, our Animal of the Day. You can also follow "The Animal House" on Twitter if you'd like to do that, and we would encourage you to do it. Let's take a telephone call...

DR. GARY WEITZMAN

12:17:58

You can never get away from us.

LITZINGER

12:18:00

(laugh) We're everywhere. We're coming to your home.

WEITZMAN

12:18:01

No matter what you do. Right.

LITZINGER

12:18:03

We're moving in with you.

WEITZMAN

12:18:04

Yeah.

LITZINGER

12:18:04

Let's take a telephone call from Emily. Emily, glad to have you with us in "The Animal House." Question for Dr. Gary?

EMILY

12:18:10

Hello. We have a sweet, middle-aged, we rescued him, so we're not sure how old he is...

WEITZMAN

12:18:15

Good.

EMILY

12:18:16

...Beagle Bassett mix.

WEITZMAN

12:18:18

Okay.

EMILY

12:18:19

He -- we have a controversy going on in our family among mostly my nine-year-old daughter and my husband, who think it's great fun to howl or to play the recorder in such a way that he howls back. I'm not an expert, but I've known a lot of dogs. To me, his response and the body language and the movements that he's making tell me he's very uncomfortable. They think it's tons of fun, and want to, you know, make him howl all day long.

LITZINGER

12:18:50

Emily, because we've had this topic on before, I thought I would bring in one of our veteran experts here. This is Janet Marlow of Pet Acoustics who knows about all things sonically related to animals. Janet, glad to talk to you again.

MS. JANET MARLOW

12:19:02

Great to be here. What a great scenario to talk about. Well, the first thing is, I think there's a range as to which the -- there's a tipping point for, Baxter is the name? And so for example, the recorder pitch is definitely stimulating his sense of response as if he's in the wild. So obviously the howling is part of the Beagle breed, and it's a conversation, and let me ask Emily, what is the body language that's going on behind that?

EMILY

12:19:40

It's an anxiousness. He's not putting his tail behind his legs, but he -- I wish I could -- well, I could make him do it right now, but….

LITZINGER

12:19:50

That would be wrong, Emily. Don't do that.

EMILY

12:19:51

Yeah.

WEITZMAN

12:19:52

That would.

EMILY

12:19:53

It just reads to me that his face alerts in a way that's so different than any other calm, you know, motion that he makes. It just reads anxiety to me.

MARLOW

12:20:06

I don't think -- it doesn't sound to me like it's a bad thing. I think there's a tipping point, like for example, barking. It can get into, you know, every -- some dogs, you know, protect the house. They bark at the door, but if it goes into an excessive stage then you're into a, you know, a negative behavior. So just understand that dogs hear twice as much as we do, so any sound that you produce in the house, especially a musical instrument that's going to be very pure of tone and volume, is going to definitely cause a very direct response from your Beagle.

MARLOW

12:20:42

I think the question is what to do about that. So when your daughter and husband do this recorder for the dog, what's the purpose of it?

EMILY

The purpose is to make the dog howl, and they think it's funny. And he gets very -- he's a very calm dog normally. He does -- he's like, I mean, my husband jokes, saying he's half dead. He like really does not get up off his bed for most of the day unless...

MARLOW

12:21:07

Yeah.

EMILY

12:21:07

...there's food or some other exciting thing.

MARLOW

12:21:10

Well, I would suggest this, utilizing the alert response to sound if they want to get kind of the giggle out of playing the recorder, that they utilize that in a time where it's gonna be a play time interaction with your family, either with some kind of toy or, you know, it's time to go out for a walk, you know. So - because you don't want to get the dog out of its state of rest and relaxation with that kind of play. The response is natural, but I think you can incorporate it so that it becomes like, hey, it's time to, you know, play with the ball or time for a treat and a walk, you know.

MARLOW

12:21:50

Something so that it's the active part of your dog's daily life, and I think that can be a really positive thing for your dog.

LITZINGER

12:21:59

Janet, just a quick question from me before I let you go. Is there an alternative? I mean, what else should Emily try for Baxter? Some kind of music, some soothing sound that Baxter might like?

MARLOW

12:22:09

If you're going to play any other instrument, you know, recorders can be very piercing to a dog's ears, you know. Of course, in my field I actually provided relaxation and calming music, but if you're going to do an instrument, you know that -- just know that that's going to stimulate alert behavior. So you can choose different kinds of instruments. I mean, you know, do not play saxophone, whatever you do. (laugh) You know, just manage your dog's life in terms of sound in regards to is this for play, or is this gonna disturb rest.

LITZINGER

12:22:44

Yeah.

MARLOW

12:22:44

And if you...

WEITZMAN

12:22:45

And wouldn't you also say, Janet, that if Emily sees stress on Baxter's face, there probably really is some stress there, so maybe don't do this quite as often as her husband and daughter have been doing it.

MARLOW

12:22:57

Absolutely, I agree.

WEITZMAN

12:22:59

Okay.

MARLOW

12:22:59

If your dog is a chill kind of dog, you know, you really want to access, and you want to foster that behavior, so that you're not getting them out of that and into a (unintelligible).

WEITZMAN

12:23:10

Yes. That calms is what -- that is our goal.

LITZINGER

12:23:13

Calm is good. Janet Marlow...

WEITZMAN

12:23:14

Calm is good.

LITZINGER

12:23:15

...of Pet Acoustics, thank you very much for that excellent advice. Much appreciated.

MARLOW

12:23:19

Oh, my pleasure. My pleasure.

LITZINGER

12:23:21

Gary, in the shelter there, in the San Diego Humane Society, do you use music therapy at all for the animals?

WEITZMAN

12:23:27

Actually, we're starting to. There's a few things. There's "Through a Dog's Ear," and I think that Janet could have spoken to that as well, and we're actually looking at a lot of different media now to actually enrich the dog experience in a shelter, and then also of course in their home. So the last thing in the world we want to do is to get them all aroused. So I think that this is a good lesson, Emily, for your family, and if you need Sam and me to come over, we can come over and talk to them.

LITZINGER

12:23:52

Or sing.

WEITZMAN

12:23:53

But I think this -- we're looking for calm, not for excitement in dogs.

LITZINGER

12:23:56

Thank you, Emily. So I guess, Dr. Gary, what you're suggesting is my Black Sabbath albums for the animals, those are...

WEITZMAN

12:24:02

Maybe not so much.

LITZINGER

12:24:03

Yeah. Okay. Very good.

WEITZMAN

12:24:04

(laugh) Not so much.

LITZINGER

12:24:05

Our telephone number is 877-610-3647. Our email address is animalhouse@wamu.org. Let's take a telephone call from Elaine. Elaine, glad to have you with us in "The Animal House." Question for Dr. Gary?

ELAINE

12:24:18

Yes, I do. Can a pet cat be trained to walk on a leash, and if so, what would be the best way to go about it? In the past, I have had Cleopatra, a lovely Siamese, and after that I had Chester, a very lovely, smart Tabby….

WEITZMAN

12:24:39

Okay.

ELAINE

12:24:39

…and neither one would have anything to do with it.

WEITZMAN

12:24:42

Anything to do with it. Actually, you insulted them by getting the leash out. Okay.

ELAINE

12:24:46

They're leash escape artists when it came to getting out of the harness.

WEITZMAN

12:24:49

Ah, all right. Well, Elaine, what do you have now? Which cat do you have now?

ELAINE

12:24:53

Well, I had Chester, but I don't have it anymore.

WEITZMAN

12:24:56

Oh, okay. And you haven't had -- you haven't...

ELAINE

12:24:57

But I'm thinking of getting another...

WEITZMAN

12:25:00

Okay.

ELAINE

12:25:01

...and I was wondering if it would better with a kitten. These two were...

WEITZMAN

12:25:03

Yeah. It...

ELAINE

12:25:06

...full-grown cats when I...

WEITZMAN

12:25:07

When you got them?

ELAINE

12:25:07

Yes.

WEITZMAN

12:25:08

Yeah. Okay. So first of all, of course, go to a shelter, or go to a rescue group to get your next cat.

ELAINE

12:25:13

Sure.

WEITZMAN

12:25:13

But definitely, if you start with a kitten and you get them used to a collar, or my preference is a harness, then they're -- it's for a cat what they get used to, and here's the way the start. Just get -- start with a harness if you can do it, because that's a little more complicated, but it's more comfortable for the cat.

ELAINE

12:25:30

Mm-hmm.

WEITZMAN

12:25:30

Just a loose-fitting one that sits on them comfortably, and just get them used to it. You start by putting it near them, letting them, you know, sniff it and see it and not be alarmed by it. Then you can part of it on them and not hook it up. Give them treats as you're doing this, and pretty much every cat you try to harness train, you can actually do that. If you don't want to use a harness and you'd rather go with a collar, you can do it, but honestly, if your goal is to eventually get them outside on a walk with you...

ELAINE

12:25:57

Mm-hmm.

WEITZMAN

12:25:58

...or some kind of more contained...

ELAINE

12:25:59

That's the goal.

WEITZMAN

12:26:00

…area, if you're out gardening or you want them in the yard, then I really would try to go for a harness rather than a collar, because you can...

ELAINE

12:26:07

That's my though.

WEITZMAN

12:26:08

...comfort them more. Yeah. You can control them more. And they don't -- in case they get alarmed, you know, they don't slip out of the collar.

ELAINE

12:26:16

I had the nicest, most comfortable harness I thought I could get.

WEITZMAN

12:26:21

Yeah.

ELAINE

12:26:21

Put them on the cat and they would let me put it on, and I thought, oh, boy, this is going to work. And they jumped away and was out of that harness before you know what happened. It was really...

WEITZMAN

12:26:34

Oh, okay.

ELAINE

12:26:35

And so I was thinking maybe I didn't start early enough.

WEITZMAN

12:26:39

Maybe so.

ELAINE

12:26:39

But I really would like to take a pet cat for a stroll instead of a drag, because they….

WEITZMAN

12:26:46

Yeah. Yeah.

LITZINGER

12:26:47

Can she get in touch with you if she needs a little extra advice?

WEITZMAN

12:26:50

Well, I'd say or any shelter that you adopt a cat from, they'll help you with fitting the harness. You can actually often get some help at a pet store, if you go to a small boutique pet store, or your veterinarian can help you. The technicians there definitely can help you get one that actually fits comfortably and safely for the cat, and then go slow. Don't go for a walk for the first couple weeks. Just stay in the house. Get the leash attached, and it should be a light leash that you can control and not weigh the cat down, but definitely get some help to get it fitted correctly.

LITZINGER

12:27:16

Good for you, Elaine. Thank you very much.

WEITZMAN

12:27:18

Yeah. Good to hear that.

LITZINGER

12:27:18

You'll be the talk of the town in a few months as you're out walking your cat around. Our telephone number is 877-610-3647. Our email address is animalhouse@wamu.org. Let's take a telephone call from Jeff. Jeff, glad, to have you with us in "The Animal House." Question for Dr. Gary?

JEFF

12:27:36

Yes. I have a -- well, I am the third owner of a neutered male Great Dane.

WEITZMAN

12:27:42

Oh.

JEFF

12:27:42

And I got him at 15 months old. He seems to have a high prey-predator drive. He will...

WEITZMAN

12:27:50

Okay.

JEFF

12:27:51

...bark and lunge at kids, bicycles, joggers, and strollers.

WEITZMAN

12:27:56

Oh, boy. All right.

JEFF

12:27:57

I've tried something what I would consider counter conditioning where I give him a high-value treat before somebody walks by and put it right in his nose to keep him busy, and try and associate him with something...

WEITZMAN

12:28:11

Oh, okay.

JEFF

12:28:13

...pleasureful and positive, before they get there, and that has not worked. And in the meantime, I just use an Easy Walk harness and leash...

WEITZMAN

12:28:22

Good.

JEFF

12:28:22

...and just pull him as far away as I can.

WEITZMAN

12:28:24

Okay, good.

JEFF

12:28:26

I've also taken him to our local town center, which is like a little town, and keep him close to me and heel with him around crowds, not letting him meet anybody, but just getting him used to being around crowds.

WEITZMAN

12:28:40

Okay. Is he actually overtly aggressive when he sees people?

JEFF

12:28:45

Typically at the dog park he's never aggressive to people. He's very friendly. Sometimes he'll go up and he'll stick his nose in somebody's gut or something when he's meeting them at the town center, but when I have visitors to my house, he's pretty reliable. He doesn't bark or jump on them. He's pretty good that way, but there are times in the car I've noticed, for example, when we're going to the dog park, he will bark excessively and aggressively when he sees workers, joggers, people walking along the road.

WEITZMAN

12:29:25

Okay.

JEFF

12:29:25

But after the dog park, he will calm down on the way home.

LITZINGER

12:29:29

By the way, Jeff, what's his name?

JEFF

12:29:30

Arrow.

WEITZMAN

12:29:31

All right.

JEFF

12:29:31

He actually pulled me down on the ground one time with a jogger who stopped right next to us. Instead of jogging by, he stopped and my dog spun me around and actually made contact with the guy's leg.

WEITZMAN

12:29:45

Ooh, all right.

JEFF

12:29:46

He made contact, but it wasn't severe.

WEITZMAN

12:29:50

Jeff, you've got a pretty serious situation here. I think you probably know that. You absolutely need to have a trainer with you. You need to work with this dog very intensely, and I don't think you're gonna be able to change a lot of these behaviors, but the key here is you need to be able to control them. So the three steps would be one, avoidance, and the second thing you've got to do is get a positive trainer to work with a reactive dog.

JEFF

12:30:15

Right.

WEITZMAN

12:30:15

And he is a reactive dog. I've got one too. I've got a big hundred pound German Shepherd. I have to be very aware of what my dog is capable of doing, and the third thing you need to do is make sure that no matter what, this guy focuses on you, not the outside environment. So I don't know if you've done training with him already, but you should have a positive trainer, no prong collars, no electric collars. I would go with what you've already done, some kind of a freedom harness or, yeah, a gentle leader.

WEITZMAN

12:30:44

Those are okay too, but I like the harnesses that you can really control your dog with. But you're gonna need some skilled professional help with this guy so that you can control your Great Dane. And I think it's gonna happen. I think it'll be -- you'll be successful with it, but you just gotta always keep in mind that you've kind of got, you know, a powder keg. I know I do with my German Shepherd. So you've just got to know that with this Great Dane, but I do think you'll be able to control him, but definitely get some positive training help there.

LITZINGER

12:31:09

Jeff, you have a project ahead of you it sounds like.

WEITZMAN

12:31:11

You do.

LITZINGER

12:31:12

Thank you very much for calling. Thank you very much, Dr. Gary.

WEITZMAN

12:31:15

Anytime.

MS. KAREN MUNSON

12:31:19

I'm Karen Munson, and this is "The Animal House" Dateline.

MR. JUDE LAW

12:31:22

As the Arctic melts, the rush to exploit its resources is starting.

MUNSON

12:31:27

That's actor Jude Law and the music of British rock group Radiohead, in a new Greenpeace ad that is being used to help raise awareness about Arctic oil drilling and the loss of wildlife habitats as a result.

LAW

12:31:38

Save the Arctic.

MUNSON

12:31:39

Incidentally, the ad also shows a homeless polar bear wandering the streets of London. Recently a Jack Russell Terrier in Ireland suffered from a bout of wanderlust. The dog named Patch was spotted aboard a train to Dublin, alone. Luckily 32 minutes after an Irish Rail employee sent a lost dog Twitter message, Patch's companion responded with the message, that's my dog, and the two were later reunited.

MUNSON

12:32:03

And did you know that babies who spend time around pet dogs have fewer ear infections and respiratory ailments than those whose homes are animal free. According to a study published in the U.S. Journal of Pediatrics, the report suggested that being around a dog that spends at least part of its day outdoors, may boost a child's immune system in the first year of life. Cats too seem to convey some protection to babies, though the effect observed was weaker than with dogs. More information about these stories and a link to the video is at wamuanimalhouse.org.

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