A walk on Tuscon trails with a dog leads to a coyote stalker, lurking not six feet (awk!) from a small dog on a leash, and a cougar print found in the Styring Vineyards in Oregon were two stories I heard from twitter pal Edie Jarolim and new anipal MollytheWineDog just days ago. And there’s plenty of stories in the news about loose dogs attacking people, children, and other dogs. What can we do in these situations?
Cougars? That’s a matter of luck. Coyotes in the wild? If yelling at them would make them move away, what about a product used to divert aggressive dogs, would that work? And if you think you and your urban dog have no worries, the results of a study (2000-07) show that the Chicago urban area is home to around 2000 of these critters, and coyotes have adapted very well to urban dwellings across the US.
The Company of Animals rep sent a product for review, the Pet Corrector, which uses compressed air that emits a hissing sound – the kind snakes and cats make as a defensive warning – to interrupt bad even aggressive behaviors in dogs. Dr. Roger Mugford is the internationally known animal psychologist who designed it, and it’s a big seller in the UK as a safe, humane training device. Dogs who chase or attack anything moving have that instinctual behavior cycle broken by the hissing sound. The compressed air in the Pet Corrector is used to help stop dogs jumping on people, barking, stealing, digging and aggressive behavior. Out of curiosity I put the question to the company about coyotes. We’ll have to wait for the answer; they are all at the InterZoo international trade fair for pet supplies in Nurnberg, Germany this week.
As for using the Pet Corrector on your dog, it gives you a chance to optimize the timing of a reward to reinforce the behavior you want as soon as the dog stops the unwanted behavior. And timing is, as they say, everything. Repetition imprints the lesson.
For those of you who are struggling with new dogs or young puppies, I’m sorry but Tashi is so good (perfect and lovely in every way:) I have no reason to put this product to use for behavior problems. I do take it with me now on our walks since I ran into that loose dog not long ago.
There’s also a new small 50 ml canister that comes with a carrier you can attach to your belt. You can check it out at The Company of Animals.
Have you and your dog had any close encounters? Do you carry any deterrants when hiking with your dog or walking in forest preserves? Have you used the Pet Corrector, and if so, what do you think?