PDTE 2012 October Newsletter

Problem dog?
tend to forget that for the dog, often it’s not
a problem at all. The so-called problem behaviour
is part of the dog’s normal way of
acting, which the person experiences as a
problem. The starting point of these problems
maybe health problems, hormones,
bad experiences, poor communication,
and of course species-specific behaviour.
Common factors
Very often one hears people talking
about leadership problems with their
dogs. However, most of the time these
are problems related to resources or
communication, which had nothing to do
with leadership problems. In addition, the
leadership–hierarchy school of thought is
being increasingly challenged by scientific
research. Furthermore, hierarchy only
occurs between members of the same
species. Think for a moment about a
family with dogs, cats, birds and people.
Is the dog the cat’s boss? Or is the horse
bossing the dog? The most important thing
would be to understand the dog as a dog,
which means bearing responsibility, giving
the right kind of love, and fulfilling the dog
species-specific needs.
Take into account:
Every dog is an individual, every problem
is individual, and the treatment for each
problem is individual. There is no such
thing as a tailor-made package or easy,
quick solutions if we want lasting results.
Fear, punishment and subjection do not
resolve problems. Quite the opposite;
such methods only increase the problems
and cause the dog unnecessary pain and
frustration. The more dog- oriented our
approach, the better the results we get for
everyone concerned.
The first thing we must ascertain when
setting out to treat a problem is its root
cause. All too often, only the symptoms
are treated, and the results are temporary.
Although symptoms can often be resolved,
they are replaced by new problems. For
example, if the dog is barking because
he’s alone, and you hit him with a spray,
he will possibly stop barking but the
reason for his barking remains untreated,
and the likelihood is that he will develop
another behavioural trait related to his
sense of loneliness. If the reason for his
barking is fear, then we need to treat the
fear if we want the barking to stop. One
of the best ways to determine the cause
of the problem is to keep a diary of your
dog’s daily life. Often things will pop-up
that had been unnoticed before.
A significant number of behavioural
problems are related to the dog’s health,
or at least are triggered by a problem with
it. It is always worth paying the vet a visit
to check that the dog is not suffering from
illness or pain that would raise its stress
levels.
Stress is something that is frequently
forgotten in the treatment of behavioural
problems. However, if stress levels are not
brought down, the dog is unable to learn
new behaviours. In the stressed dog, all
the memory slots in its brain are full and
there is no room for anything new. When
the dog’s working memory is full, there is
absolutely no way it can learn anything
new. Therefore, before beginning any kind
of treatment for behavioural problems, it
is highly worthwhile giving the dog a rest
period of several weeks. This means stopping
activities that cause stress, such as
ball or stick throwing, fast paced activities,
and any kind of agitation. When the dog is
given a sufficient break, this frees up the
memory slots in its brain and it is ready to
learn something new. Often a behavioural
problem will resolve itself during this time.
Then it becomes clear what the original
problem was and this can be avoided in
the future.
When possible health problems have been
checked for, and stress levels brought
down, and when the root problem has
become clear, then treatment can begin.
This is usually successful, because the
dog is now able to assimilate new things.
If the dog is afraid of umbrellas, we can
desensitise it to umbrellas through good
experiences, and the fear will gradually
disappear. If the dog has separation anxiety,
we make being alone a totally wonderful
experience for the dog. Once the fear
Health
Health problems can trigger all kinds problems such as lunging, biting, separation anxiety,
barking, so-called “aggressive” behaviour, and various fears
Stress
Not only is stress itself a cause of problems, but it also makes problems worse. Symptoms
can include jumping up, barking, pulling on the lead, restlessness, humping, and
health problems.
Species-specific behaviour
The need to hunt – digging, chewing, chasing, barking, and burying “prey”.
Survival – self-defence against fears such as threats from above, fear of other dogs, fear
of people, fear of losing something.
The need to reproduce – Escape during heat, false pregnancy, and competition between
members of the same-sex.
Social needs – separation anxiety, various fears, barking, howling, and destructive
behaviour.
Relationships and lack of trust
Often we teach the dog undesirable behaviour by rewarding the wrong behaviour. Examples
are barking, refusal to come, jumping up, pulling on the lead, and various fears.
Misunderstanding communication can also create a whole range of problems such as
growling, attacking, and biting.
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