Dog Behavior Problems

Lack of understanding is probably the single biggest problem when it comes to our dog's behavior.

Problems start usually the moment Puppy enters the new home, and we humans just bumble along without really knowing what we are doing.  We find puppy piddle on the rug and, well, we might push his snout into it and yell NO.  Puppy bites hands in play and we play back until it gets out of control, and we yell NO!  Puppy chews our shoes and we meaningfully show him the shreds and yell NO.  BAD DOG.

He doesn't get it.   So what are we to do?  Smack him?  Yank the choke chain?  Is that how he learns?  Might this cause other, more serious problems in the future?  How about sticking him into a crate for extended periods of time?  Then he can't be bad.  But is that the best way to solve the problem?

Or, say you are rough housing with your two year old 80 pound dog and as you gleefully enjoy the closeness and interaction that rough housing offers, you playfully bite your dog on his muzzle.  His split second response is that he bites you in the face.  He didn't really injure you, but you are frightened and devastated.  To make matters worse, for the next few days, whenever your best friend sees you approaching, he growls at you.

What happened?

Do you have a dangerous dog?

As a dog owner, it really is important to take time to learn about dog behavior, and also understand how dogs learn.  But for a deeper understanding of dog behavior it takes years of study and experience.  For most dog owners the best place to go when questions arise is to a qualified dog behavior professional.  Along with helping to resolve problems, a truly qualified professional will not cause further harm.

Might the above puppy end up being afraid of his owner because of all the ineffective communication, or might the rough housing dog end up being euthanized because of ignorance about dog behavior?  Faulty understanding often causes mistakes that can be detrimental to our dogs, or to us.

This brings to mind a casual conversation I had with someone recently.  He told me he had his dog euthanized because the dog killed a duck.  A duck?  This person went on to say, with a great sense of serious responsibility, that he did not want his dog to be killing the neighbor children next.

This is devastating, and criminal.  I'm sorry for this dog, for the poor man who had to make such a horrible decision, and for the veterinarian who had to take the life of a perfectly healthy and normal dog.  If a dog kills a duck, it does not logically follow that the dog will kill, or even hurt, a child.  It does not mean that the dog won't attack a child, but a dog killing a duck does not mean a dog will attack a child.

Some time ago I had a client who was distraught because her formerly affectionate dog was no longer affectionate, and worse, Mister wouldn't eat.  Nothing she did would get him to eat, and he was rapidly losing weight.  He wouldn't even take special treats.  On top of all that, when she called him, he would rigidly stand in place and stare straight ahead, where before he would come to her all wiggly.

By talking with the owner I learned that the month before, Mister had an infection, and had lost his appetite.  The vet had prescribed antibiotics, and to get Mister to eat, the vet had recommended force feeding him.  So the distraught owner would corner Mister at mealtime, hold him by the neck to give him the medication, and then proceed to stuff food into his mouth, and even down his throat.

Mister's infection had cleared up with no problem and the vet said he was now a healthy dog.  The owner couldn't understand why Mister still wouldn't eat, and why his personality had changed.  She loved him very much, and was thoroughly upset over the whole situation, especially him not eating, as this was ultimately life threatening.

She believed that Mister was being willful and that he was trying to show her who was the boss.

My understanding of Mister's behavior change was that feeding time had turned into a terrifying experience for him.  He couldn't eat because he was afraid of what his owner was going to do to him.  Her continued anxiety about his eating (or lack of eating) kept this fear alive.  His fear generalized to other situations, and when she called him to come to her, he became rigid and unresponsive.  He was no longer affectionate because he was afraid of her.

In thinking that Mister was trying to show her who was boss, she became more forceful, resulting in her becoming even more terrifying to him.

Resolving the problem was very easy.  We had to take all pressure off Mister to eat.  She could no longer say "Mister, time to eat," as this was Mister's cue that something bad was going to be happening now.  She was not to look at him, touch him, or talk to him during the entire feeding process.  She was to simply act as though he wasn't there, and in a natural manner fill the food bowl, put it down, and leave the room.

Once all the pressure was taken off Mister at mealtime, he was able to eat just fine.  She was happier, and he again became affectionate and took treats from her.  When she called him, he again came bounding over to her.

What I always like to recommend is to keep an open mind, and to try to see the problem from the dog's point of view.

An owner contacted me in desperation because she shared her lovely Pacific Coastal home with a male and a female American Pit Bull Terrier who had begun fighting with each other.  She and her husband felt that if there was one more fight, one of the dogs would kill the other.  They loved their dogs as if they were their children.

This very dedicated owner was on a mission.  She wanted to know which of her two dogs was dominant.  She couldn't tell, and she thought this was the key to resolving the fighting.

Most dog behavior professionals would say the prognosis in this situation was poor.  Pits have a long history of being bred for fighting dogs, and when a family dog who is a Pit Bull starts fighting, the outcome is often tragic.

In not keeping an open mind, I may have dismissed this case as being irresolvable.  But as we talked, the owner mentioned something in the dogs' behavior that caught my attention.  This one fact gave me the foundation for my further line of questioning, and we were able to successfully resolve the fighting.  The owner contacted me a long while after our consultation to tell me that everything was still fine.

As for the owner, it was important that she was able to keep an open mind to perspectives other than the oversimplified and often ineffective dominance model for resolving problematic behavior.

Both these case studies were with distance clients, via phone.

Someone once wrote me saying she had read about dog behavior all week on the Internet, and she still didn't know how to resolve the (rather serious) aggression problem she was having with her dog.

As with any other field of study, understanding dog behavior, and how to resolve dog behavior problems, takes time to learn.  It really does.  First, it takes an enormous amount of time to learn who really does "know their stuff".  Then it takes time to study each of these reputable professionals, understand their perspective on dog behavior, and then understand how they each resolve problematic behavior.  Then, after making a systematic study, it's time to synthesize everything into a personal view point... and then apply that to each individual dog, seeing what might work best.

Still awake?

The old saying that a little bit of information can be most harmful is often too true.

Once I received an email from someone who said her dog had separation anxiety because "Rover" had the family cat in his mouth when she came home from work.  I asked about other signs of separation anxiety, and there were none.  Three cats had already been killed in this home.  When I suggested that this may not be a case of separation anxiety, the owner dismissed me, and we never conducted a formal consultation.  Sadly, the best and most diligently practiced behavior protocol for separation anxiety is not going to keep the remaining cats alive.

I encourage you to please consult with a professional who is well educated in animal behavior as well as dog behavior, who understands the principles behind how animal learn, and who has experience with a wide range of dog personalities.  Additionally, I'd like to recommend that you consult with a professional who sees a dog as a living, feeling, intelligent, and sensitive being.