I’m sitting at La Guardia airport, surrounded by rows of passengers-to-be, their stolid baggage waiting by their sides like silent beasts of burden, their agile mobile phones hard at work. I’m on my way home from the Green Chimneys 2017 Conference on Human Animal Interactions and here’s my challenge: What part of the conference do I write about? The amazing work being done at Green Chimneys, a pioneer in animal and nature-based therapy for children with special needs?? The informative and inspiring talk by Dr. Sandra McCune of the Waltham Foundation, about the human-animal bond and the growing field of Human-Animal Interactions (HAI). Or should I focus on one of HAI’s rising stars, Dr. Maggie O’Haire from Purdue University’s Center for the Human Animal Bond, her research on HAI impacts on children on the autism spectrum, and her development of a coding system designed to capture the unique interactions between humans and animals? (See one her articles here.) Or perhaps I should write about the impressive program of the conference’s co-sponsor, The Institute for Human Animal Connection, and the opportunities it is providing for growth and research in the field itself? You see my problem. (Bottom line–lots of great information at that conference!)
If you are interested in the growing field of Human-Animal Interactions (including assistance and service animals), you’re in luck. As Dr. McCune reminded us, it is a field that is growing by leaps and bounds. For example, in 2005, 97 academic articles included the phrase “human animal interaction.” In 2016, there were 539. I’d argue that Dr. McCune and the Waltham Foundation are in part responsible for that, having been leaders in the field, as well as funding studies on HAI and the human-animal bond. Waltham partnered with NIH to develop a Guide to HAI Resources, if you’d like to learn more. You can also contact The O’Haire Lab and request a fantastic list of Human-Animal Bond Centers in the United States and some other countries.
Like all growing fields, HAI needs more good, solid research behind it, not to mention more skilled practioners with the experience and knowledge required to turn good intentions into real progress. But you couldn’t help but be inspired by the participants and speakers at this conference. Based on the presentations and insightful conversations with many of the participants, I’d say the field is clearly in good hands.
Here’s one specific insight from the conference that I’ve thought about ever since watching Nina Ekholm Fry’s presentation on using equine assisted therapy to develop “Core Mind Skills.” (Ms. Ekholm Fry, MSSc, CCTP, is the Director of Equine Programs at the Institute for Human-Animal Connections in Denver.) Core Mind Skills refer to the ability to use and focus your mind as you do your muscles. Similar in many ways to meditation practices, the concept is to train your brain to focus, to not wander willy-nilly (“monkey mind” in meditation), and to be able to pull it back from a state that is overwhelmed, unfocused or even destructive. Teaching this skill is an important part of therapy for children on the autism spectrum, because it is so easy for them to become overwhelmed with sensory and social input.
But here’s the thing: We all know what being overwhelmed feels like, and I suspect, so do most of our dogs. Nina talked about what she called “The Window of Tolerance.” Below is her graphic example, illustrating that every sentient creature has a limited range of experience in which they can function. On the one hand, this is information we all know, because we live it in our own lives. If we get overwhelmed with information, or if we are frightened, or so hot we can’t think, then we are no longer able to learn. Nor are we able to be flexible and to cope well with what’s happening around us. Here’s my replica of her graphic to illustrate it:
Case in point: Before leaving for the conference I injured my knee. (Probable torn meniscus, will know more soon. I’m optimistic, don’t worry.) Having had no life experience with maneuvering through an airport with two bags and only one usable leg, I limped my way to where I was to pick up the shuttle. Things didn’t go smoothly from there. After set backs adding up to many hours–the shuttle was an hour and a half late, it finally came but wouldn’t let me board, after it did it ended up dropping me off at the wrong hotel–I felt barely able to cope, or even ask for help. All ended up well, but when I read Nina’s line “full access to cognitive capabilities” and “rigidity” (versus flexible and adaptive), I laughed ruefully.
We all know what it feels like to sail out of our own window of tolerance when the tsunami of life picks us up like a rogue wave. Think then, of what it’s like to be on the autism spectrum, and to almost always be overwhelmed. I think too of the many dogs I’ve known, whose “Window of Tolerance” is narrow, and who struggle on a daily basis to be flexible and adaptable.
In the dog world, we talk about working reactive dogs around their “threshold” when conditioning them to be less reactive to a particular stimuli. The “Window of Tolerance” is a similar concept, but for me, it adds another dimension. It reminds us that the window widens or narrows, like the height of a tunnel, depending on the situation and the state of mind of the individual. Are you already stressed and tired? Is your dog in pain from a torn cruciate? Trapped in a small place? Given the right (or wrong) context, any sentient individual becomes more rigid, less flexible and less able to think.
Learning Core Mind Skills, including how to focus on the present, can help us all to widen our windows of tolerance. Surely that is just as true for dogs as it is for us, although it’s a little trickier when you can’t ask your dog to focus on his sensory input by asking “what are you seeing right now?” But we can teach dogs to direct their focus on to something they love or a trick they have learned, and ask them to do that in contexts close to their threshold, helping them to widen their own Window of Tolerance.
I’d love to hear if you too find this another way to add nuance to an important aspect of dog training and behavior. (And life.) I always love looking at the same thing from a different perspective–you too?
Here are some photos from the conference. I didn’t take many because of my lack of mobility, but Green Chimneys has a huge campus, which includes hundreds of wild and domestic animals. The llamas say hello on the top left, and clockwise, that’s me and Nina Ekholm Fry (I had just said “I love your brain!” to her), part of the equine therapy demo, canine therapist R0o and friends–one of the dogs who lives on campus for six weeks and then goes back to the shelter and gets adopted–a win/win if I’ve ever heard one, a poignant release of a Red-Tailed Hawk rehabilitated at Green Chimneys, released in the honor of a beloved staff member who died recently, peacock feathers in the sun (love the contrast of the feathers and the cement with peeling paint), and me with Maureen and Jane, who are responsible for the dog program at Green Chimneys. I owe a special thanks to Jane, whose assistance made the demo I did at the end of my talk into an informative (and often amusing!) time for us all.
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: Apparently the weather was cool, cloudy and rainy while I was gone. I’ve heard lots of complaints about the weather now that I’m back. But hey, it means that all the flowers I left are still glowing. Makes me smile just thinking about it. Here is a crab apple blooming just down the street from my office, in front of the Black Earth Historical Society. I love the contrast of colors.
Cheryl Cullion says
I am a small animal veterinarian and will like many in my profession offer a dog a treat when they come into the exam room. Some will readily accept the treat and some will not. However if I ask the dog to sit, some of those dogs that initially refused will take the treat after complying. I never thought of this as getting them to “focus on the present or being in the moment” or “widen their window of tolerance”. I never knew why giving them command “allowed” them to accept the treat, but really love this perspective.
Barbara says
I have a high energy GSD that can be a handful when overly stimulated–like going to the vet. She also has nerve endings at the tips of her fur (step on her tail fur and she comes off the floor in what is unmistakably K9 cursing–and quite frightening to those who don’t speak the language). To keep her calm at the vet’s, I have tiny treats in my treat pouch and feed them to her constantly. Her vet loves the idea and swears she could do open heart surgery on my dog, as she remains calm and accepting for any procedure…no need to muzzle.
Meg Rooney says
I love the graphic. Would like some more detailed information about the levels and the continuum.
Barbara says
My German Shepherd Dog, Miley, and I are learning the skills for Tracking Dog Excellent. I try to plan tracks that offer different puzzles for her to solve interspersed with motivational tracks that are supposed to be easy and fun. Sometimes it turns out so wrong. What looked to me like a fairly short track with one puzzle turned out to have many, many difficulties for Miley. The area was full of rodent holes, there had been recent (current?) coyote activity, several people with dogs walked by in the distance but close enough to pile on more distractions. Soon she was overwhelmed, trotting this way and that with her head up, standing and looking into the distance, and panting. Fortunately I remembered my instruction: bring her close to me on the track and cheerfully help her, as often as necessary. Praise, praise, praise for her trying. And a big happy reward when she finds the glove at the end.
She seems to love tracking so I will try to lay a very, very easy track for her next time and hope that she has recovered from this experience, or perhaps even learned that it will turn out all right in the end.
lee says
Enjoyed your tweets about the conference and the detail here!
I’m still pondering the guilt controversy. My copy of For the Love of Dogs is packed away, but thought I remembered that dogs don’t have the same brain part (prefrontal cortex?) humans do that gives us the ability of abstract reasoning/thought, which includes being about to make associations in time (the reason that dogs can’t relate a current punishment with past behavior?), a moral ethic (which some people claim is the reason dogs cannot be pets and working dogs and justify penning/crating when “not working”), and a sense of morality, which would include guilt, but doesn’t mean that dogs cannot form strong bonds with people and other animals and can lead to behaviors of protection or willingness to help.
I hope your knee has have a quick recovery! Don’t hesitate to ask for help at the airports; I found Delta has always has excellent service for assisting in times of injury.
lee
lee says
To Cheryl—my story isn’t directly related but thought I’d share with you (or skip to the last sentence).
My heart dog had a very sound temperament, lovely with people and other dogs, loved food more than anything, but was so stressed at the vet, it was the only time she refused food. Just one time (one trial learning) at the vet’s office (for a scratched cornea) as a puppy, and the vet office was always stressful for her; though, she was always compliant and never reactive, I felt terrible for her.
My male dog wasn’t quite as stable but was great at the vet until one negative incident which led to him become reactive to handling of his face or blood draw from his neck. I would ask or blood drawn his hind leg, which is more difficult to draw but produced no reaction from him. Some vets wouldn’t believe me because he seemed so friendly and calm and would insist on the neck. I’d submit and wait until they saw a hard eye and full set of teeth. Then they decided a back leg draw would do just fine.
I used the game “find it” while in the room waiting to distract them, and though both were very responsive to cues for tricks and behaviors, that alone didn’t alleviate the fear once an exam started.
I went prepared, with them totally conditioned to wearing a muzzle and with a full bag of treats, feeding high frequency during the exam and procedures and would often be disparaged and insulted by either the vet techs (“he’s going to get fat”) or the vet (“most border collies are smart”). We did pre-visits with lots of great interactions before, and I taught my boy to rest his chin in my hand, but sometimes the fear of the non-family member near his face was too high for him to overcome.
Though highly trained in tricks and very responsive to many cues from me or the vet, this did nothing to help alleviate the fear. We lived in several different states during their lives and had experiences with many different vets (most didn’t understand fear), but, fortunately, the last few years of his life we are blessed to work with a vet who was wonderful. I am sure you are too…just sharing that many vets aren’t. (:
Since my experience, Dr. Marty Becker founded Fear Free. If you’re not familiar with it, you may be interested in checking out his website https://fearfreepets.com
kind regards,
lee
Aurora says
All injuries and difficulties aside, it’s so hard just having to leave your particular spring this time of year–everything is so beautiful and changing so fast. I’m glad you got weather that preserved it. It’s been a long spring for me this year in western Mass–my first crocuses came out in February and bloomed for a few weeks under a blanket of snow. The very last of them (which definitely were not out in February) just finished blooming about a week and a half ago. Crocuses in February was a little disturbing, but things have proceeded more normally since. I’m glad the weather gave you a reprieve from missing too much.
My dog and I are both pretty easy to overstimulate. I have done some work on asking for easy tricks in contexts where she’s starting to frazzle, and it does help, though not for very long at a time. A lot of the discipline for me of course is not asking when she’s so far outside that window that she won’t be able to respond or will just experience the task as another frustrating demand on her attention.
Michelle says
Interesting! I am VERY aware of my own limited “window of tolerance” (smile) but have not noticed it much in the dogs I’ve had. Where it stands out to me is in horses, my other love. I read on a trainer’s blog how she carries peppermints when she rides to reinforce that she will not put the horse in danger. “That isn’t a scary stump (while she breathes deeply to show her own relaxation). Here, have a peppermint.” Not reinforcing fear or a fright reaction, but rewarding her horse for walking past it. At first I resisted what seemed like an impractical suggestion, but one day I pocketed a bunch of little chips of the horse cookies I use as a reward for recall or taking medicine willingly and went for a ride down the road. Whenever my horse reacted to something, I asked him to take at least one more step and rewarded him with a tiny piece of cookie. It worked like a charm – broadening his window of tolerance noticeably!
Smarty's Mom says
best wishes & good luck with your knee!
Linda Scroggins says
I have found in working with anxious dogs that Chirag Patel’s bucket game helps to increase calm behavior. Though maybe not intended as such focusing on an item that can produce treats seems to decrease anxious behaviors for my dogs and help them to pause and take a breath.
Deanna in Oregon says
I think the Window of Tolerance graphic/model also needs a Time axis. The width of the Window will change over time…with exposure to stimulus and fatigue it narrows, or with rest and withdrawal from particular stimuli it can widen again. The Tolerance resources get “used up” over time and need to be refreshed.
And strong emotional experiences can suddenly change the default width of the Tolerance window, which is also likely to be dependent on the situation.
I think we usually think of Tolerance (in a dog or a person) as more of a constant, and then we are surprised or shocked when that being suddenly snaps…their supply of Tolerance got used up, so to speak. It’s a dynamic thing, and if we recognize that, and can control the situation before the window narrows, we can prevent problems.
Recognizing the dynamic nature of this “window” can help when setting up, for example, counter-conditioning sessions.
Kat says
Working with highly reactive psycho bitch Finna I actually do ask her to ‘think about what she’s seeing right now.’ The specific cue is “check it out” and the intent is to get her to think about the thing she’s starting to react to. I want her to just stop and observe. This means when a corner of the cover on the ski boat in someone’s driveway has come loose and is flapping in the wind Finna can stay at a safe distance (under threshold) and observe it as long as she needs to until she figures out that it is no threat. The specific behavior looks like her stopping, looking at the thing that is worrying her, looking back at me, getting a reward, looking at the thing that is worrying, looking back at me, getting a reward, doing a shake off, checking in getting a reward and walking on. If she shows signs of amping up looking at whatever it is the reward is paired with increased distance until she can feel safe simply observing.
To deal with Finna’s reactivity I’ve pretty much melded everything I’ve learned from BAT, Control Unleashed, this blog, tons of other reading, and everything I’ve learned as a parent into an approach that seems to work with her. Her window of tolerance for midnight walks through the neighborhood started out the size of a peep hole but by asking her to think about what she’s seeing and actually consider whether it’s coming closer, doing anything threatening, or is simply something that’s happening in the environment that has no impact on her she’s gotten a lot better. Today she can watch a car pull into a driveway and people get out of it and go into their house, before that was grounds for frenzied barking and lunging. We still have to wait a respectful distance from the driveway and can’t walk past until everyone is inside but if she keeps watching and actually thinking about what she’s seeing I’m confident the day will come when she can simply walk past.
Charlotte Kasner says
There’s a lot more scope for vets to learn better handling skills – everyone should learn from the late Dr Sophia Yin. I am often shocked at vets who lean over an unknown dog with their face right next to the muzzle because they are focused on getting the procedure done and the consultation over when they have full surgery. I have poor veins for blood drawing myself and have lost count of the times that I could have been saved a haematoma or even two when a nurse has refused to take blood from the back of my hand or foot. Yes it hurts but its a lot better for being done efficiently. I’ve no reason to believe that dogs feel any differently.
Cheryl Cullion says
Lee,
I’m sorry to hear about some of your experiences. The field of veterinary medicine is always changing and evolving-usually for the better. I see lots of articles now in my veterinary journals and also some workshops at conferences on how to conduct a stress-free or at least less stressful office visit-so its now on a lot clinician’s radar. And of course creating a less stressful environment ofter includes treats. It doesn’t work so well with the kitties but I have had a few takers. Funny, why would you not want to give an animal treats-it’s one my favorite parts of the exam. And quite frankly having a dog or cat accept my treat helps alleviate some of my own stress. Cheryl
Karen Brandson says
Just a comment about your knee. About a year ago while walking down the driveway, my knee felt like it exploded. An MRI indicated two tears in the meniscus, an alien floating body, and the start of some arthritis. I’m 60. Was training for a 10k at the time. This was about 1.5 weeks prior to the race. I did run the race, it was actually easier to run than walk as walking required a full straightening of the leg, whereas running did not. Both the GP I went to who did deal in sports injuries, and my chiropractor, encouraged me to get a stationary bike and just ride it without adding much resistance. I did weeks of that and first postponed the appointment with the specialist and then cancelled it, as the knee was feeling so good that I had no interest in surgery (which I had been desperate for at one point).Wishing you luck with yours!
Drew says
This is so wonderful, I’m very happy you connected with our Nina, we are so lucky to have her at IHAC http://www.du.edu/humananimalconnection/, she’s such a wonderful addition.
Annie Humphrey says
Hi Trisha-
I was at the conference and consider your talk, Helping the Helper: Preventing Stress and Discomfort in Assistance and Service Dogs, a high point. I loved the video you showed of the two dogs and the pile of kibble. Is this video posted anywhere? I think it is a wonderful example of the subtleties of dog body language and communication and is a great teaching tool.
Chris from Boise says
Kat – I pass the compliment that Habi and I received from LisaW a few weeks ago on to you: it has been impressive to read about your and Finna’s journey over the years. How far she has come! Between Finna and Ranger, you certainly have two great teachers.
Trisha – hope the knee heals quickly.
Lolly says
This is a fascinating topic. I certainly recognize my own window of tolerance, and I have seen it in my guide dogs as well.
The school my current dog is from teaches a time out when the dog is distracted. It makes sense and generally works to bring the dog’s attention back to task. Once the dog is back on task, they get a food reward and verbal praise. I find it works for me as a handler as well to give me a non-judgmental break when my dog is not doing what I need her to do.
I would add a concept to the window tolerance which is cognitive load. This applies to dog and handler.
From the handler’s perspective, when we are in training at a guide dog school, we are asked to learn new routes that the dogs already know, learn our new dog’s signals, listen to our instructor’s directions and apply them, pay attention to our footing and texture changes so as not to fall, and if there are other conditions present such as hearing loss or pain that can distract or alter the experience, this presents a significant cognitive load to carry.
This concept, I believe, at least in guide dog training fits well with the window of tolerance. The more one has to think about, the smaller the window of tolerance may be.
I had a unique experience in training with my current dog. I asked for home training to eliminate the need for me to learn new routes so I could reduce the chance I might fall. I had fallen several times in my last couple of guide dog training experiences. The school granted my request and I got to experience training starting out nowing the routes which also meant I knew the footing and texture changes to expect. It also meant my new dog had to learn the routes.
We started out with short routes and she did well. She did exhibit some stress during the initial training trips, but mostly that was because there was construction she had to figure out and guide me around. She succeeded and got lots of treats, verbal praise and pets. She also got to play and got good breaks between routes.
From this experience I learned the dogs can be flexible enough to be given the challenge of learning something new if the right conditions are present to help keep the window of tolerance open. I also learned that my own window of tolerance could be extended if the right conditions are present.
Being aware of my dog’s and my own window of tolerance, and cognitive load, is important to good team work.
There are two other topics I would be interested to read more about; multi-tasking in working dogs, and good stress versus bad stress in dogs. I think we assume that in dogs as in people, that all stress is bad. Life is stressfull whether you are human or canine. Sometimes as humans, stress can help us perform better and spir us on to better results. I wonder about such a coralation in dogs?
Trisha I’m looking forward to reading your new book and hope it comes to a platform for those of us who use recorded books for the blind soon.
Thank you so much for this blog! I have learned so much from you and your readers!
Heal well and quickly. (:)
Vicki in Michigan says
Dogs scared at the vet….
I have had good success bringing my dogs to the vet when they do not need anything. Just to walk in the door, have a treat, and leave. The staff think this is so great that they are eager to also give treats and petting.
Then we go home. My dogs have always been good at the vet.
Something happened to one of my dogs one time when they took him “in the back.” When he came back he was afraid of the floors in the exam rooms. He was fine in the waiting area, but would not walk, at all, in the exam rooms. (Luckily he was small enough to carry!)
I brought Cheerios with me, and we’d sit on the floor in an exam room. I’d put a Cheerio just beyond his reach, so he’d have to take one step to get it. (He wasn’t terrified; he was still interested in eating….) When he’d go one step, I’d ask for two. Again the staff was eager to help with this process, and we were offered an empty exam room any time we showed up and there was an empty room.
After several visits, he gave up being scared.
I’m a big fan of offering lots of no-stress (or very low-stress) visits to potentially scary places, when it’s possible. And lots of Cheerios. 🙂
Beverly Hebert says
Hi Trisha! This morning in my Facebook news-feed a memory came up of something I posted a year ago and it was your article, “When Is It Acceptable to Break the Basic Rules of Dog Training?” I took a couple of minutes to re-read it and discovered something I missed the first time – your dog Maggie and my dog Nikki both have the same sire – the great Riggs! Does this make us some sort of doggie relatives – I’d like to think so! I love reading about Maggie’s herding adventures. Being a city gal, I don’t have sheep, but Nikki is a certified animal assisted therapy dog here in San Antonio (I met you when you came to give a talk to our dog trainers’ group) and we are a reading assistance team at a local elementary school. Nikki has an interesting combination of temperament traits. She has a low arousal threshold so she gets excited very easily and I have had to do a lot of impulse control work with her, but she is also a very fast learner and a lot of fun to train.
Charles Couturier says
It all comes down to consciousness.
That “window”, whether it is of “tolerance”, of “great patience”, or of “great desire”, is the window of consciousness first and foremost.
It doesn’t happen frequently, but for those times where I wonder if my dog isn’t having a bad time (often, we know, right?), I just try to guess what she’s being conscious of, and where I can redirect her consciousness. This is automatically achieved by pulling a material trigger for play, such as a toy. But in our case, I can also communicate her that “there’s nothing” (I’ve taught her emptiness or nothingness, which is practical for when say, she’s convinced there’s a mice 6 feet under the ground, and motivated to dig this distance inch by inch). I could also simply request her attention, which case she fixes her consciousness on me, etc…