Stuffed Dogs

We've added two dogs to our pack! Two stuffed dogs, that is. A Boston terrier and a yellow Labrador retriever. They are going to help me with evaluating dogs, teaching clients about body language and equipment use, and are great decoy dogs. It's much safer to use a stuffed animal with a potentially reactive (aggressive) dog than to use one of my own dogs. Stuffed animals are much more easily stitched up. They are also great decoy dogs to use when teaching things like for the dog to look away from a distraction, leave it, or keep attention on the handler. They are great for counter-conditioning and helping change a dog's reaction to other dogs.

Of course the reaction to stuffed dogs do not create a 100% reliable predictor of how a dog will react to a real dog. They don't move, unless you physically manipulate them. They smell very different, and their bodies aren't anatomically correct from head to toe. They may have weird wrinkles, bends, and postures. So why do some dogs attack them or become fearful as if it was a real dog? Who knows! The best guess, according to Trish King, who has extensive experience using stuffed dogs, is that dogs believe their first sense much as humans do. We see a snake on the ground while walking and startle even if it's actually a stick. We see a glass of water and are disgusted when it's Sprite, because even if we love Sprite it's not what we were expecting. Dogs see the stuffed dog and believe their eyes.

A normal reaction for a dog to have to a stuffed dog is to curiously approach and investigate it, sniff it, taste (lick) it, determine it's a toy, and treat it as such. Some dogs may mouth it and shake it, some may simply leave it alone. They have soft wiggly playful bodies, and are not tense or jumpy. Dogs often try to elicit play with the stuffed dog. Abnormal reactions include fear and aggression, and dogs who cannot seem to accept that it is a toy and not a real dog. Signs of anxiety include stressed body language in the eyes, ears, tail, and body posture. Dogs may avoid the stuffed dog and try to escape, or "space shift" in which they are very skittish and jumpy, leaning forward and pulling back. It's important to remember that the stuffed dog does not move and has a very hard direct stare. It is stiff and does not offer any normal calming or play behaviors that could help a reactive dog respond positively, and it can elicit a more stressed response from a normally friendly dog. When a dog offers a play behavior and the stuffed dog remains frozen and staring that can be a problem.

Trish King has observed common breed type patterns. Herding and hunting dogs are often confused, reactive, and tentative about the stuffed dog. Herders and sighthounds are very visual dogs. Terriers are often headstrong, reactive, and in general respond least to stuffed dogs because the stuffed ones are so still. Terriers respond to motion. Bully breeds are often action oriented, strong, serious, persistent, and more likely to not accept that it's a toy. Bullies also use their weight and paws more, and will often knock the toy over with their paw or by body slamming and then stand over it or lean down on it. Dogs do play by body holds, but the holds are usually very brief and are accompanied by loose playful body language and other play behaviors.

Dogs often react differently to different stuffed dogs too, which played a big role in my choosing the stuffed dogs I did. Black dogs are harder to read since there is almost no contrast in their face. Dogs with upright pointed ears are also often targeted. This is why I chose the Boston terrier, because he is black and has pointed ears. I chose the yellow lab because it is lighter colored, has floppy ears, and has a different body position and has a turned head. It's standing whereas the Boston is sitting. Body position is important too, as we'll see with Denali's reaction.

I got my stuffed dogs from Melissa & Doug.

Boston Terrier

From M&D website

Yellow Labrador

From M&D website

I let each of my dogs sniff each stuffed dog. They responded about how I expected.

Denali first. She has been hesitant with stuffed dogs before. Previously she has displayed a lot of space shifting, plants her back feet and leans in so she has a quick escape. She has been a bit tense, tail low, ears back and forth. She is wonderfully curious though. This has always been her personality, to be unsure about something new but curious enough to be brave and investigate it. She surprised me this time be showing no hesitation to greet the dogs. She approached happily, with loose body posture, tail waving. She did avoid a little, her typical stress/avoidance behavior is to sniff. Notice with the Boston that she turns to walk away, sniffs around the box, the chair and table, before returning to investigate more. I did think she'd grab it to play more but she didn't. She did mouth the nose of the lab and chew it a little, a sure sign she viewed it as a toy. Curiously, Diesel had previously done the same thing but to a greater extent. The thing to note with Denali is the piloerection (goosebumps, for people) on her shoulders. Her fur stays down when investigating the Boston but when she sees the lab it raises very quickly. She almost always raises her fur when greeting a new dog. Perhaps the standing position and larger size of the lab caused the difference in reaction. It's caused by a rush of adrenaline, rooted in excitement in her case to meet a new friend.


Kaytu next. Her reaction was the same for both stuffed dogs, here is the Boston. She curiously investigates without hesitation, same as Denali. Denali joins her and they investigate together.
 
Finally, Diesel. His reaction was not as strong and bully-type as I expected. When he greets a real dog he has a very bully breed way of doing it. He goes right up and smacks a paw on the dog's shoulder, and puts his head over the dog's back. Pretty rude body language to most dogs! I expected a similar reaction but instead he was quite polite. With the Boston he went through the normal process of sniffing the butt, then face, and continuing to investigate. He did knock it over but didn't stand over it the way I would have expected, and knocking it over was accidental and not an intentional action of pushing his weight into it or pawing it down. Once it was knocked over he really realized it was a toy and mouthed and licked it. With the lab, he sniffs the face first then licks and mouth it. He again accidentally knocks it over, tipping it upward while sniffing the butt. He then started mouthing the nose, typical destruction of a toy. I told him "uh-uh" and he had a very strong reaction to quickly back far away from it, but he came back to investigate more and actually seemed to position himself in a way to allow the stuffed dog to sniff him.