of the Dog - Association of Pet Dog Trainers

Wide Panting:
When the dog’s mouth is parted extra wide, without
having his lips retracted while he breathes with his mouth
open.
Yawn, no teeth
Yawn — Regular:
When the dog yawns.
Yawn With Teeth Exposed:
When the dog yawns and flashes all or most of the teeth
in his mouth during the widest part of the yawn.
Common Clusters of Behaviors:
The Scent Marking Cluster:
I frequently see Shoulder Rubbing, Flying Shoulder
Rubs, Shoulder Stance and all the Anal Touching/Swiping
behaviors occurring together. These behaviors tend to
occur in the least sociable dogs, and commonly in dogs
who fail one or more portions of the test. I interpret these
behaviors as a form of scent marking.
Anus Behaviors:
Initially, I began to notice merely that some dogs would
sit on my shoe during testing. Then I would notice that
sometimes this would “gross me out” or disgust me, which
I found interesting since I am usually not in any way
disgusted by dogs. I then noticed that the dogs who sat
on my shoe and disgusted me would position themselves
in such a way that I could feel their anus on the top of my
shoes. Other dogs, with whom I was not disgusted, would
position their tails or rear legs in such a way that they could
sit on my shoe without their anus making contact. It had
nothing to do with tail set, tail type, or tail carriage. Then
I began to notice that the dogs whose anuses made contact
were typically the least sociable dogs who commonly failed
one or more parts of the full assessment. The most sociable
dogs hardly ever touched their anuses to me or any other
place in the testing environment. Anal glands are known
for scent marking in dogs, and it seems to me that a dog
who swipes his anus all over the tester and furniture in the
testing room, could, like graffiti, be tagging his signature,
claiming ownership of all these things.
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I was recently watching an episode of Meerkat Manor
on Animal Planet, and was thrilled and astounded to
see the first reference in any mammal, to anal marking.
It was described as an “attack” and considered part of a
dominance take-over by one meerkat to her injured sister.
Although there was no biting or actual injury, the one
meerkat repeatedly anal-swiped and shoulder rubbed all
over the other meerkat.
Scent Marking and Resource Guarding:
I also see a strong correlation between these “scentmarking”
behaviors and dogs who fail the resource
guarding portions and sometimes the stranger tests.
It seems to me that whether it is a human-to-human
relationship or a dog-to-human relationship, the healthiest
and least risky relationships are ones based significantly
on respect, friendship, love, shared joy, etc. and the most
risky, least healthy relationships are ones where the
majority of the relationship is based on treating the other
as property, or as if the other is “owned.” I wonder if, when
a dog shows no sociability, but scent marks the tester and
the furniture in the testing room throughout, whether he
is claiming these as his own property, tagging them as
resources to guard.
Most Dangerous Profile:
I consider the large, muscular, non—sociable dog
who shows many “scent marking” behaviors as the
most dangerous type of dog. I believe dogs that are both
physically large and strong, as well as show no attachment
to humans, but rub on them with their shoulders and
anus, have the most potential for harm. To me, these are
not in any way “pet” or “companion” dogs, but rather
predators. I also believe that it is, in part sociability (along
with training, relationship, bonding, and bite-inhibition
training) that helps a dog inhibit his bite if and when the
dog was to get aggressive.
Pediatric Spay/Neuters:
As a very new observation, one that I am still just a
spectator of, is I see an abundance of what I consider
“scent marking” behaviors in adolescent and adult dogs
suspected of, or known to have been, a pediatric spay or
neuter. Pediatric spay and neuter I define as sterilization
performed before six months of age. I haven’t seen enough
suspected or known pediatric spay/neuters to really amass
enough observations, except that I have, so far, been pretty
consistently making these observations on the ones I do
see.
Intense Sniffing and Dog-to-Dog Aggression:
I have noted that dogs who sniff one spot for three
seconds or longer and do so more than once during
testing, are more likely have dog-to-dog aggression issues.
I have noticed during behavior consultations as well that
dogs who have issues with other dogs are most likely to
come into the consultation room and [continued on next page]
November/December 2008 w The APDT Chronicle of the Dog w 45
An Ethogram of the Shelter Dog