Friday, June 14, 2019 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A5
The myth of the tired dog
H
ang around enough dog people
and you will hear, “A tired dog
is a good dog.” Hang around
a few positive reinforcement profes-
CANINE
CORNER
RAIN JORDAN
& DAHLIA
Seaside Fire Chief Joey Daniels, volunteer Dalton Smith,
Jeremy Mills and Div. Chief Chris Dugan.
sionals long enough, and you’ll start to
count the ways it isn’t true.
For example, a dog tired out from
being exercised is soon going to be
hungry, and sometimes hungry dogs
forget their manners. A tired out dog
might also become cranky or frus-
trated, depending on what made him
tired, or maybe the tired dog will sim-
ply be exhausted and sleep the rest
of the day. But frustration isn’t gen-
erally associated with better behav-
ior, and sleeping after exercise doesn’t
create good behavior; it puts behavior
on hold. In the last case, then, a tired
dog is simply a dog on pause. When
she wakes up, behavior begins again
exactly where it left off before the dog
was tired.
Sometimes we may think a dog is
tired or lacking energy when the dog
just lies there—not sleeping, but not
wanting to do much either. Is this an
exhausted dog, an unhappy dog, an ill
dog, an injured dog? All are possible,
and one should consult one’s vet for
concerns of potential illness or injury. I
am not a veterinarian nor do I offer any
sort of medical advice.
Working with a wide variety of dog
types and ages, though, I sometimes
see what may well be another con-
sequence of the “Tired Dog” myth:
Young adult dogs with limb or joint
pain — judged by resistance or reac-
tivity to touch or handling of the area.
It is not commonly known among dog
owners that puppies should only be
carefully, lightly exercised until their
growth plates have closed; as a result,
many people and their puppies go joy-
ously out into the wild blue, romp-
ing hard and far as their legs will take
them, on whatever surfaces are avail-
able. Some add directed exercise such
as having the pup be a jogging partner
Program benefi ts
local fi refi ghters
expertcanine.com
or begin agility training. This exercise,
done before puppies’ growth plates
are closed, can cause notable physical
damage to the pup.
Growth plate closure rate differs
from breed to breed, size and age. Ask
your vet to get a best estimate for your
dog, but understand that being sure
would require medical imaging. One
might also opt to play it safe by wait-
ing longer than best estimates.
I’ve seen the sweetest of young
adult dogs suddenly snark at a beloved
person for what would seem like no
reason, when touched in a growth plate
area. How sad if this were misinter-
preted as aggression—idiopathic or
otherwise—merely because the sweet
dog and his loving owner didn’t real-
ize that too much frolic as a puppy
could cause lasting harm. Given that
some folks will euthanize a dog simply
for “touching teeth to human skin”—a
policy with which I disagree for rea-
sons including the one just mentioned,
yet a policy that is carried out fre-
quently—it is important to advocate
for our dogs from day one. Sometimes
that may mean playing on a soft carpet
with toys rather than running around
outside on pavement, rather than jump-
ing in and out of cars or on and off of
furniture.
If tiring a dog is not the secret to
a having a good dog, then what is?
There’s a long answer and a short
answer. For the long answer, consult
a CBCC or other certifi ed R+ trainer.
But here’s the short answer: A dog
whose needs are met becomes a good
dog.
I created the Hierarchy of Canine
Well-Being, a simplifi ed version of
which is shown below. Please view the
full version, which details each level,
here: www.expertcanine.com/hierar-
chy-of-canine-well-being. It is inspired
by psychologist Abraham Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs. Just as the human
animal has a variety of needs, so does
the canine animal.
If you are wondering whether tir-
ing out a dog in order to get a dog to
‘be good’ might be contrary to well-be-
ing, Brava. While exercise is a health
(survival) need, compelling exercise to
exhaust an animal in order to control
behavior is likely skipping one or more
of the other needs as well as a potential
threat to health (survival).
I’ll discuss details and caveats to
each of the need levels in future arti-
cles. Drop me a note if you have ques-
tions in the interim.
Rain Jordan, CBCC-KA, KPA CTP,
is a certifi ed canine behavior and
training professional. Visit her at www.
expertcanine.com
By JEREMY MILLS
For Seaside Signal
S
ometimes in life
those around us
inspire us to do bet-
ter, to do more to help the
community we live in.
Earlier this year Dal-
ton Smith was inspira-
tional to me, his drive and
dedication to fundrais-
ing for our local volunteer
fi re deptartment was hard
work but he stepped up to
the plate. After seeing his
motivation take shape, I
felt called to do the same.
After looking at what Dal-
ton was able to accom-
plish I thought what can I
do to make our city better
and how can State Farm
and I get involved. That’s
when I found the Quotes
for Good Program from
State Farm. This wonder-
ful program allows Misty
and me to increase our
ability to do more and
to give more to our local
projects.
Here is how Quotes for
Good works. Every time
a new household calls in
for a quote and mentions
Quotes for Good we will
personally donate $5 to a
different nonprofi t each
month and State Farm will
match 50%. This is huge
for us because it helps us
to make a bigger impact.
There are no purchase
requirements for us to
give, only that the quotes
be for someone new to
State Farm and they have
to mention the Quotes for
Good Program.
In this same desire to
help, I’ve also decided to
make this interactive for
our community. The sec-
ond week of each month
we will start a Facebook
Poll for the next month’s
recipient. Some of the
projects near and dear to
my heart are the Lunch
Buddies Mentorship Pro-
gram, the Seaside Heights
Elementary Book Nook,
Sunset Park and Rec
Scholarship Program and
any others that our com-
munity would like to see
benefi t. In the Poll we will
leave a space for write-ins
and really hope to see all
of Clatsop participate. The
only requirement I have is
that the nonprofi t or proj-
ect must use any donation
given to benefi t our local
community directly.
We will continue giving
thru the Quotes for Good
program for as long as we
have community involve-
ment as well as our nor-
mal dedication to our local
kids. My hope is that we
are able to donate any-
where between $500 to
$1000 a month ourselves
and then bring in the
extras from State Farm. I
hope this opportunity will
truly help each recipient
better serve their needs. So
please go to Facebook and
like our page then check
in each month and vote for
who we can bless next!
June 18
Teen Tuesday
3 p.m. Out of this world slime.
OFF THE
SHELVES
June 19
Preschool storytime
10 a.m. Summer theme.
WEEKLY
LIBRARY
CALENDAR
June 20
June 26
“Tears of Joy”
1:30 p.m.Puppet Theater Pup-
pet show.
Preschool storytime
10 a.m., “Bugs bugs bugs”
theme.
June 25
June 27
Teen Tuesday
3 p.m., Horoscope sign art
project 3 p.m.
“Creature Teachers”
1:30 p.m., live reptiles show
for all ages
DINING
on the
Lorna Brandt
TOP Samantha Carlisle with Kitora, Max Padgett with Jewell, Jossy Adams with Bindi and Michael Salmi with Rosebud. BELOW
LEFT Max Padgett and Jewell. BELOW RIGHT Michael Salmi with Rosebud.
‘Paws in Action’ 4-H Dog Club
NORTH COAST
Great Restaurants in:
GEARHART • SEASIDE
CANNON BEACH
Seaside Signal
Four members of the Paws n’ Action
4-H dog club participated in a “B”
match dog show in Aurora, at a May
event put on by the Rose City Labrador
Retriever Club.
They participated in Junior Showman-
ship, Obedience, and Rally Obedience.
Jossy Adams with Bindi took Best Junior
Showman and scored a perfect 100 in the
off-lead Advanced Rally course.
Samantha Carlisle with Kitora and
Max Padgett with Jewell had qualifying
Community Service Day
benefi ts Kiwanilong
Seaside Signal
Local real estate bro-
kers from the North Coast
put their own spin on Wind-
ermere Real Estate’s 35th
annual Community Ser-
vice Day by volunteering
at Camp Kiwanilong on
Wednesday, May 22.
Each year, Windermere
Real Estate brokers, man-
agers, owners and staff from
300 offi ces across the West-
ern United States gather
together to devote their
workday to making positive
changes in the neighbor-
hoods they serve.
Brokers from Winder-
mere Realty Trust’s Cannon
Beach and Gearhart offi ces
volunteered
for
Camp
Kiwanilong in Warrenton.
Brokers spent the day plac-
ing new mattresses in all of
the camp’s cabins. In the
past, youth campers would
need to bring their own bed-
rolls to the lodge.
Fresh
runs in both of their obedience classes.
Michael Salmi with Rosebud won
a qualifying ribbon in his obedience
class. The kids and dogs performed
well, learned a lot, and enjoyed the
experience.
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