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17.06.2013
Information
In the circumstances it seems likely that four year old mix breed Travis was born of fearful parents and his spookiness could have a genetic component. His owners rescued him as a puppy and two years ago they brought him with them over to the UK. He has had a couple of accidents when bolting due to fear, including being knocked down by a car.
He actually does very well indeed, but over time he has become increasingly fearful of people, those that approach him and especially those coming into his house. He has now bitten a couple of times – lightly so far and not breaking the skin.
He has to be shut in his crate for many hours several days a week, which is another thing in his life that needs to change somehow. Even though he doesn’t seem to be suffering because of it, eleven hours at a time is too long; they feel they can’t ask someone to let him out or to walk him because they can’t trust him with people entering their house.
After I had sat myself down at the kitchen table which is the safest place and least threatening to a scared dog, and sent the teenage son to bring him in on lead, I was expecting lunging, barking and snarling. Not at all. Travis was obviously very uncomfortable, making a sort of huffing, snorting sound, but he didn’t bark and he didn’t lunge. Very soon the lead was off but I sat still. He ate a bit of biscuit I dropped on the floor, and was soon taking it from my hand. I didn’t look at him. It is always easier if dogs are food-orientated like Travis.
Soon I was teaching him to look me in the eye – a real challenge for him – and to voluntarily touch my hand.
His confidence needs building up in every way possible and in all aspects of his life. I demonstrated how people should behave when visiting – and also how the family should behave in order to help him out. By shutting him away things can only get worse.
Travis is just a very jumpy dog, skittish at sudden sounds and wanting to bolt if he meets or hears something unexpected. He feels more confident when out with the son, but that will be because the lad himself feels more confident and it demonstrates how the owner’s own confidence can so effect a dog.
A stiff drink before walks could do wonders!
16.06.2013
Biting, mixed breed, rescue dog, scared of approaching people, scared of people, scared of people coming to the house
Roots is a delightful and friendly three year old Collie/Husky cross – with stunning pale eyes outlined in black.
She had to be removed from her mother at six weeks old and they have worked very hard with her. She was the star of her puppy obedience classes.
However, as time has gone by, she has developed more and more reactivity to other dogs, any dog in fact that shows any reaction to her whatsoever, friendly or otherwise, particularly if she is on lead. She’s okay with dogs that totally ignore her and with some dogs when she is off lead. Her hackles rise, she lunges and if she could she would attack. The lady has been bitten on the leg for being in the way.
The whole walk scenario needs to be changed. In order to give better control she now wears a ‘Gentle Leader‘. As soon as she sees it come out, she backs away. The lead that is attached is a retractable lead which by its very nature is always tight. So, Roots walks down the road, held tight beside them on this contraption and one can imagine how it must be for her when they see another dog.
The lead will tighten. It will be uncomfortable on her face – especially if she lunges and is dragged past. This is a clear case of the presence of another dog being associated with all the wrong things – owner tension, discomfort, and form the young man an angry reaction when she acts in what is to her, self-defence – going for the other dog before it gets her. She simply doesn’t feel safe.
Because she is okay with some dogs, this situation isn’t as bad as it may seem. Some days she will already be more wound up than others and therefore more reactive. From the moment she leaves the house she’s on ‘cat watch’ - cats really hype her up. This needs to be tackled. She needs to be stirred up less at home so she is in a calmer state of mind in general; she needs to be comfortable in the equipment used and her walker needs to be relaxed and in control. Roots needs to associate other dogs with nice stuff and not with discomfort, panic or anger.
I sometimes wonder why that head halter is called a ‘Gentle Leader’. As people mainly use them to physically pevent dogs from pulling there isn’t much ‘Gentle’ about it – and ‘Leader’? Jerking the lead on a head collar is hardly leading, is it.
12.06.2013
Aggressive to other dogs, Reactive to other dogs, chasing cats
I fell in love (again)! This time it was with 8-month-old black Labrador Peppa.
Her increasingly demanding attention-seeking behaviour was becoming potentially dangerous for their six year old daughter.
It tends to be worse in the evening – as it often seems to be with many young dogs. There is a lot of jumping up in general, but when the little girl sits down to do her homework or watch TV and mum is trying to cook tea, the battle commences. Peppa flies all over the child if not closely controlled. By the time dad has come home and the adults sit down in the evening for some peace and quiet Peppa really gets stuck in.
She starts with climbing on them whereupon she is told to get down and pushed off. Commands make her defiant (she is a teenager!). Soon this escalates to grabbing clothes, barking for attention, air snapping and even nipping. It goes on and on until they get so exasperated they shout at her. She is getting their undivided attention now!
Understandably they are only too pleased when she is quiet so when she’s being good they leave her alone. That way Peppa learns that the best attention happens when she is annoying. She isn’t shown an acceptable alternative way to get their attention.
It is a bit like goalkeeper fielding all the balls. Instead of waiting for Peppa to instigate something, they need to behave more like forwards. They need to instigate attention at times to suit them and they need to teach her alternatives incompatible with her demanding behaviour.
I soon taught her, instead of jumping on us, to sit and then lie down instead. Each time the urge came to demand attention by jumping she was redirected to lying down whereupon she was, of course, rewarded with attention and food. Soon she was doing this of her own accord. We then added ‘stay‘ which will be gradually increased over time. She liked that game! I also taught her the ‘touch’ trick which she learnt in just a few minutes. She was literally lapping it up and eager to learn. She is a very clever dog with a brain that is not sufficiently exercised. One thing that may be adding to the problem is that she’s not fed until the evening, so it’s possible the late food is giving her an energy rush of calories.
So, on one hand Peppa needs to learn self-control and to understand that good things happen when her feet are on the floor and she’s polite, and on the other hand she needs a vacuum in her life filled with some constructive stimulation.
10.06.2013
Barking for attention, Jumping up, Labrador, adolescent, gun dog labrador, jumping all over people
Cockers do have a trait for being excitable and very vocal, as we Cocker owners well know!
There are two Cockers in the household I visited yesterday that I shall name Eric and Ernie – not their real names because for a reason they prefer their dogs to be anonymous. The photo is that of a dog similar to ‘Eric’.
The main symptom of the underlying excitement problem is that the dogs have spats, mostly due to their redirecting onto one another when particularly hyped up. At other times they get on famously.
My ‘plan’ for them has a recurring theme, ‘do all you can to calm things down’.
From the moment I walked in the door they were jumping up at me and continued to do so when I sat down. It’s like they are competing for attention. We have a plan to teach them that it’s calm behaviour with feet on the floor that gets them the attention.
Bedtime is manic with Ernie having to be carried while Eric sreams as he runs up ahead. We have a plan for a calm bedtime.
First thing in the morning is manic from the moment the man puts his foot on the floor to get out of bed. We have a plan for a calm start to the day.
Feeding is hyper with dogs jumping up and barking as the meals are prepared. We have plan for a calm feeding routine.
Getting into the car is a screaming contest as is getting out of the car the other end. We have a plan for the car.
The dogs ‘explode’ out into the garden, screaming and barking and sometimes redirecting onto one another. We have a plan for calm exits.
If they hear something outside or if there is a bird in the garden, Ernie starts the barking backed up by Eric. We have a plan for that!
The dogs are walked separately, because otherwise Eric screams all the way down the road. Calm needs to be established at home, before the door is opened.
The people will need to be very patient and outlast the dogs. The dogs have learnt that ‘shouting’ gets them what they want and it is continually being reinforced. The couple will need to change the order in which they do things because the noise and excitement starts in anticipation of a regular event. Every time the man lets them into the garden they think he is going to play with them and they go ballistic. The dogs will get time out in their crates with something to chew (they love their crates) when they are getting over excited.
Making things calmer is only one side of the issue. There is too much stimulation of the wrong kind – stuff that winds them up further involving lots exercise, agility, fly-ball and excitable play. Moreover, it’s excited, manic and noisy behaviour that gets them the attention. They need to be working their clever brains more! I am encouraging the couple to use clicker training with their dogs, one dog at a time, to get the dogs really working and doing something useful for their attention. This should help them to learn some impluse control too.
08.06.2013
Cocker Spaniel, Hyper, excited, fighting, hyperactive
The young Staffie/Dogue de Bordeaux had been dropped off at the surgery anonymously with a story of his owners splitting up and no rescue centre willing to take him. Fortunately the veterinary nurse, a past client of mine, took him home with her. She found him a new home with friends.
His new family of three days, a lovely couple with their two daughters, have called him Frankie.
Frankie is in good shape physically but he is hand-shy. He has air-snapped at a couple of people who have put their hand out to him. This has been preceded by growling but because this was ignored the ‘go away’ warning was naturally stepped up a little. Then he was scolded. A mistake. Warnings shouldn’t be discouraged. We should listen to what the dog is saying and deal with the underlying reason – usually fear.
Frankie has quickly got used to his new family but he is becoming increasingly growly and fearful with other people who come to the house. He is much better out in the garden where possibly he feels more free – so long as he’s not approached with an outstretched hand.
Very wisely the new family have called for help early on, so hopefully we can nip in the bud behaviours which may have caused him to have been abandoned in the first place.
I myself demonstrated how to teach Frankie first of all to relax with me, and then to come to my hand instead of avoiding it; within a while he had changed from growling at me to happily touching my hand when I held it out in front of him and even above his head. They will need to work on this with family members to start with. It needs to be taken slowly and gradually. He needs to associate people with nice stuff. He also seems to have some problems with being left alone and he pulls on lead. These things can be addressed with patience and understanding, two qualities his new family have.
Frankie is a clean slate at the moment and they are slowly getting to know him as he settles in and displays his real self.
06.06.2013
Dogue de Bordeaux, Staffie Dogue de Bordeaux, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, growling, snapping, snapping at hands
Two-year-old Pug Bungle is just the kind of dog many of my clients with little dogs would like and don’t get – a dog that loves being cuddled and touched. The perfect lap dog.
From the start the young lady has taken him everywhere with her and he is confident and well-socialised, fine with both people and other dogs. Delightful.
But there is a downside. Bungle has always got just what he wants and this has led to the three problems I was called out for. Basically, if he barks or fusses, it always works.
Most pressing is that they don’t get a good night’s sleep. Bungle has been accustomed to sharing the bed, but now that the young lady is in a relationship they don’t want Bungle moving about the bed during the night and burrowing. 
They have tried putting his bed on the floor, but he will be whining and snuffling and padding about on the wood floor with his nails tap-tapping, agitating to get back up on the bed – hence the bootees! They have tried leaving him in the kitchen, but this is next to the neighbours so when he has barked he has been invited back into the bed. No wonder he makes a fuss – IT WORKS!
We have a plan which I’m sure will solve this – and a back-up plan if not.
The second problem is non-stop barking in the car. This could be due to anxiety as things whizz past or it could be because of what he expects to happen at the end of the journey which can be very exciting to him. It could be a mix of both. Bungle has been taught that barking brings results. It always does – eventually.
The third problem is that they can’t eat out in a pub garden without constant barking for their food. Teaching him at home something else to be doing while they eat (a specially prepared Kong) and that there will never be any of their food for him either during or after their meal, should solve this – though it could take a while. He is bound to try all he can before giving up.
Nothing works quickly because habits need to be broken and replaced with new habits. It is all dependant upon Bungle’s humans keeping their heads and not giving in to his demands whether it’s for play, for food or to get into their bed.
01.06.2013
Barking, barking in pub garden, keeping dog off the bed
Josie looks like a little fox and I have no idea what mix she is. She is divine.
She lives with a lady who has some mobility problems who got her from Wood Green Animal Sanctuary six months ago. At home Josie is the perfect companion, sweet natured and undemanding.
In a way Josie’s case is a bit similar to the last one I went to – German Shepherd Storm. Both dogs are no problem at all at home and friendly to people, but become insecure and very reactive to other dogs when out.
Josie’s problem is more specific in that she only aggresses to dogs when she is trapped on lead. When out running freely with dogs in a field she is absolutely fine.
She needs to build up some faith in her lady so that instead of feeling unsafe and vulnerable, trapped on the end of a lead with an uncomfortable head halter held by an increasingly nervous owner, she feels comfortable, protected and safe.
We looked into equipment that would be suitable for walking Josie comfortably beside the mobility scooter. She needs to stop pulling.
The lady is fine walking short distances so will initially work in the front garden. A popular dog walk is down the road and dogs frequently go past the end of the drive. They will also go out to the road and just stand and watch the world go by so Josie learns to relax. As soon as a distant dog appears – the road is long and straight – the lady will work on Josie on lead as demonstrated by me, always remaining within her threshold; she will retreat up the garden, increasing the distance. She will use encouragement and food to associate dogs with only good things (a technique that can only be used when the dog is sub-threshold, before the barking and lunging begins and her brain goes into a different zone).
Similar to Storm, Josie has been able to perfect her ‘barking at dog’ skills from home, barking at the front window; everything must be done to reduce opportunities for barking at passing dogs. Any barking there is gives the lady an opportunity to react in a ‘leaderly’ way instead of scolding her. A good leader is the protector.
Josie needs to trust her lady to look after her around other dogs. As in many cases it is largely about how the humans behave.
26.05.2013
Barking at other dogs, Mongrel, Pulling on lead, barking at the window, barking in the car, mixed breed
It was a treat to visit such a calm and friendly German Shepherd; many I’ve been to recently have had problems with people coming into their homes, but not 20-month-old Storm. She was chilled – and actually a lot more interested in the doggy smells on my bag and on my trousers than in me!
Storm makes very few demands on her owners, and they make few on her. She is biddable and obedient.
But, unfortunately, she is becoming increasingly reactive to other dogs they meet on walks and she has now injured a small terrier.
I don’t myself see this as a problem solely to do with dogs on walks. I feel this is a symptom and not the cause. At home she has free access to the front gate and a lot of dogs walk by. She takes up her station there and flies at the gate in a territorial fashion whenever a dog goes past, and when they go out she may be left outside on guard duty. Her stress levels will be continually rising. In the car she has her head out of the window and barks at any dog she sees.
Storm is simply given too much opportunity to practise the undesirable behaviour. Scolding her or saying NO doesn’t help at all. She may stop temporarily, but it teaches her nothing. It doesn’t teach her that, as her leaders/dog parents, protection duty is their responsibility and not hers.
She’s not always reactive to every dog she meets when out. It seems that she can tolerate so much, and then she will ‘go’. Understandably, they try to walk her away from other dogs. Avoiding dogs altogether will get them nowhere of course – particularly as the only interaction she does get is negative - the aggression from behind the gate, along with unplanned encounters. She is usually either chastised or she is left to get on with it by herself.
Storm has a very close bond with her gentleman owner in particular, and dealt with sensitively, given time and patience, I’m sure he will bring her around. Opportunities for guard duty should be cut to the minimum, and when she barks she should be helped, not scolded.
Because she is generally so good, they are too relaxed. Out on walks she needs to be more under control with less freelancing, and the general work at home to increase the relevance of her owners and her trust in them will spill over onto the walks. They now have techniques to work on that will gradually get her more used to other dogs whilst connecting with her owners, and to be calm around them. This work has to start at a distance within her comfort threshold – before she begins to react. Once over that threshold, she will become deaf and incapable of learning.
25.05.2013
Aggressive to other dogs, German Shepherd, Reactive to other dogs, aggressive to dogs on walks, barking at dogs, barking at the gate
The main reason a dog may snap is because of fear – he feels threatened in some way. Sometimes it may be because a resource he regards as his is being threatened. In the case of Lewis, a beautiful ten-month-old golden Cocker Spaniel, it’s certainly not fear. Lewis is scared of nothing. He is supremely confident, friendly with everybody and all dogs – and his recall when out is excellent when a ball is involved! In most ways he is a joy to have.
What’s upset them is that Lewis has snapped at his lady owner several times, and each time it’s because she has tried to move him when sometimes, due to circumstances, he has had to share their sleeping space (it’s possible he regards this space as his resource) . He also isn’t keen on being brushed. Fortunately he hasn’t yet actually bitten.
He believes it’s quite OK for him to invade their space when he feels like it, but not so good if they invade his uninvited. He can be very excitable and quite demanding for attention. Clever Cocker Spaniels can be very clever and very persistent at finding ways to get under our skin!!
The slightly concerning thing is that Lewis doesn’t give a noticeable warning before he snaps. He may go still and he may curl his lip, but because it’s usually dark this goes unnoticed. There is no growling. As I’ve said before, growling is actually a good thing. The dog is telling us how he feels and it’s for us then to work out why and to do something about that. It is much more difficult if the dog acts impulsively and lacks this inhibition.
The two issues that need dealing with are ‘opportunity‘ and his relationship with his owners. It’s fairly simple to ensure Lewis always sleeps in his own space when away from home. Because they are afraid he may snap, they are afraid to manhandle him in any way so are relying on bribing and enticing him to give things up or to go somewhere. This gives a defiant teenage dog plenty of scope to play them up and to take control!
They will work at gaining Lewis’ cooperation and respect using rewards relevant to Lewis and getting him to work things out for himself. ‘If I do this, so and so will happen, if I don’t do that, so and so won’t happen’. They may need to be creative and outwit him sometimes too! They themselves need to be more relevant to Lewis, in that when they do ask him to do something, to give something to them or call him to them, he is eager to oblige.
In Lewis’ case, this quote from Jordan Rothman is especially relevant: To control your dog, control what motivates your dog: food, toys, belly rubs, attention, access to other dogs etc.’
21.05.2013
Cocker Spaniel, adolescent, snap, snapping
There really is something endearing about Cocker Spaniels! They haven’t been put on this earth to be ignored. My own Cocker, Pickle, is totally different to Toby in what he does, but he, too, can be a handful. My Pickle is a working Cocker and keeps himself busy. He is the smallest of my dogs but, more than my four other dogs put together, Pickle keeps me on my toes!
Toby, the dog I went to today, is a Show Cocker and a beautiful boy. His start in life wasn’t ideal in that he was hand-reared along with his siblings. The downside of this is that he hasn’t been taught by his mother when his teeth hurt as usually happens when suckling because if she felt his teeth, mum would walk away, and he would learn about teeth because his food supply would disappear.
Their problem with Toby is that he guards things in that he ‘posesses’them. They are HIS resources; ‘Stay away’. He guards various private bolt-holes in the house where he takes his ‘trophies’ – places like under the coffee table beside his lady owner whom he also guards; he may guard food while he is eating, he guards chews and bones, he guards his own personal space and he will guard toys. He does quite a lot of growling that they are now immune to – but growling has a purpose, it’s a warning, and recently Toby bit someone who approached something he was guarding and who ignored his growling.
Toby gets what he wants, when he wants. Toby chooses when he comes in at night, he chooses where he sleeps. Toby chooses when he eats. He chooses when he gets touched. He chooses when he should play ball (but the ball has to be wrestled off him). His demands are nearly always immediately met. Food is always available and human food is shared. Nothing has to be earned. If £10 notes were showered on you, would you want to work for a tenner? If their attention is given always on demand, does he really value and find relevant his very loving humans?
I asked the man to call Toby to him. Toby just looked at him. (Toby now expected the man to repeat the request and put in a lot of effort). I said ‘Toby’s had his opportunity and lost it, leave him’.
I must say I can’t imagine any of my dogs growling at me. This isn’t because they are any different from Toby or other dogs I go to. It’ s because they respect me and I am relevant. I hold the ‘cards’. Here is a quote from Jordan Rothman, ‘To control your dog, control what motivates your dog: food, toys, belly rubs, attention, access to other dogs etc.’
I introduced Toby to clicker training. It took a while for him to catch on to the notion of having to EARN food (cheese). Once he understood the rules he was 100% attention, poised to work for me. It was lovely to see and shows what is possible. He was a focused and happy dog and all I was teaching him as a starter was to look me in the eye, to give me his full attention.
Loving a dog is a bit of a two-edged sword. Indulging a dog’s every whim is actually harmful in my mind. It’s no different than with one’s children.
15.05.2013
Cocker Spaniel, growling, guarding
Two year old Mastiff X Bobby is a delightful, gentle dog who understandably is wary of men – most especially young men wearing hoods. He had an unfortunate start in life; he belonged to a group of youths who wanted to make him fierce.
The lady has had him for one year now. At home he is calm, and he’s quite relaxed with a lot of physical attention and fussing from the teenage daughter and is fine with lady visitors. But he is very uneasy around men, particularly any man walking directly towards him or putting his hand out to him. Each time the son comes home from uni, it still takes Bobby a couple of days to relax with him.
The lady has worked very hard with Bobby over the past year and he has already come a long way. To start with he was so scared that he would frequently urinate when any sort of pressure was put on him. Now it seems that only high voices cause him to pee and occasionally interaction with a man; one has to wonder what sort of teasing and goading he must have endured.
Unfortunately over the past few weeks there have been several incidents where he has ‘air-snapped’ warnings at men. In one case his teeth met the man’s knuckles although if he had intended to bite there would have been more damage. Another man approaching and carrying a can of beer resulted in Bobby crouching and running at him, catching his leg before running off very scared. The behaviour has started to include male neighbours and a man in their house.
It is a sort of vicious circle. Bobby feels threatened and is doing what comes naturally to a dog in the circumstances in order to protect himself – giving a warning by way of air-snap. The understandably emotional reactions of the men and his lady owner are increasingly making his apprehension of men worse.
Bobby needs to know that his lady owner is there to look out for him and protect him – in ways that he understands. He needs to be able to trust her. Acknowledging his fear of males, she needs to be sensitive where approaching a man directly is concerned and also to make sure they understand the situation, asking them not to come too close, to avoid eye contact and to keep their hands away. Whenever there is any doubt Bobby will for now wear a muzzle so that there is absolutely no risk whilst he learns to feel protected and while the lady is doing the necessary work to help him overcome his fear of all men and to make sure he comes immediately to her side when called no matter what. She loves him dearly and knows that if he bites someone for real poor Bobby will pay the ultimate price
12.05.2013
Biting, air snap, mastiff X, nipping
Just look at this dog! Isn’t she wonderful?
Billie is a four-year-old Aylestone Bulldog and they have had her for six weeks. Previous to this she had been used as a breeding bitch and ended up in a shelter, so she probably didn’t have a very good life.
She certainly has a good life now.
She is sweet-natured dog, maybe a little worried. She is a dream at home, but out on walks she is reactive to other dogs – obviously scared. She has injuries on her legs which look very much like she’s been attacked or bullied by other dogs in her past life, so it’s no wonder she’s wary. Dogs that are scared, trapped on lead in particular, are very likely to take the approach that attack is the best form of defence.
In Billie’s case she will certainly be picking up on the anxiety of her lady owner. Their previous rescue dog had escaped out the front and went for another dog, injuring it badly, and the poor lady witnessed this. Understandably, the lady’s not relaxed with Billie around other dogs and this message is sure to be passing down the lead.
The walking equipment they use could be better. If more robust, it would help them to feel more confident. It would also help Billie to feel more comfortable.
With their previous dog they called out a member of the BarkBusters franchise and I don’t mind mentioning them by name because Billie’s humans have been taught by them. BarkBuster’s system of terrorising a ‘disobedient’ dog with things like throwing chains on the floor in front of it (something Billie’s people don’t do) and using ‘correction’ or spraying it with water when it’s not ‘behaving’ has resulted in situations being made far worse. If a dog is afraid, no amount of bullying will cure the fear. If it seems to work, then it is because the dog is terrorised and has shut down. How can people be asked to do this to the dog they love? People can be so desperate for help that they put their trust in so-called ‘professionals’, but the bottom line is that there is no such thing as a quick fix. Someone said ‘quick fixes usually become unstuck‘.
At present when poor Billie reacts to another dog, she will be feeling the tension of her owner down the lead while she’s ‘corrected’, it will be uncomfortable on her neck, she will be told NO and may be sprayed with water. No wonder she is increasingly believing that other dogs mean trouble – because they do!
With positive, reward-based and understanding methods they can turn things around for their beautiful dog.
10.05.2013
Aylestone Bulldog, Barkbusters, Bulldog, scared of other dogs
Poppy is a cross between a Labrador and Standard Poodle, eighteen months of age – a big dog. I went to see her a few weeks ago – The lady is still unable to control her when she goes ‘wild’. At certain times of day, especially in the evening or when the lady is out in the garden with her, Poppy will jump up and grab her with her teeth – roughly, and she is covered in bruises. If she turns around, Poppy attacks her back. There is no malice in it but she simply has not learnt manners or teeth inhibition. She seems to do all she can to wind the lady up – and her behaviour is getting her the desired results! Poppy also does this to people who come to the house, resulting in her spending a lot of her time in her crate.
It is a shame that this lack of teeth inhibition wasn’t dealt with appropriately when she was a young puppy in a way that meant Poppy would get the message.
Anyway, today I took along my clicker. Usually I would use this to teach specific skills, but today I was going to work on Poppy’s general behaviour. I would simply click and treat her for being ‘good’.
While she was still in her crate I taught her that the click meant food was to follow – just a tiny soft treat. Then I let her out! She immediately jumped at me and grabbed my arms. I folded them and looked away. As soon as she stopped I clicked and dropped a treat on the floor. Soon she was not only calming down, but sitting in between bouts of craziness. ‘Click treat’ all the time she was not mugging me. I slowly made it more difficult by walking about, then by feeding her by hand but not opening it until she was gentle. Each time she grabbed my hand I removed it and froze – and when she let go and I clicked and treated her. This way she was learning not only what she should NOT do, she was also learning what she SHOULD do.
In an effort to control her mouth, she picked up a soft toy – ‘click treat’. Whenever she approached me politely, ‘click treat’. Soon I was walking around the garden, the place where she it as her wildest, with a polite and attentive dog, and all within the space of about twenty minutes. The brain exercise is also just what she needs.
The lady is going to use part of Poppy’s food allowance and get her to earn it in this way. I feel sure we have found the ‘key’ to resolving Poppy’s hyper habits and getting her brain into gear.
09.05.2013
Hyper, Jumping up, Labradoodle, grabbing clothes, grabbing hands, nipping
Dolly is an adorable, playful one-year-old Shi Tzu with no problems at all – a really stable little dog. A week ago nine-week-old Bella joined the family. She is a Malshi (never heard of that before, but a cross between a Shi Tzu and a Maltese). As you can see on the right – absolutely adorable.
The family has been used to Dolly who has always loved being handled. She lies on her back like a rag doll on their laps! When Bella arrived they understandably treated her the same way. They have two little boys and many friends, and in the first few days she was cuddled by children, passed about and held high by a man. It was all too much for her.
In these first few days she was also scared of little Dolly, squealing when Dolly went near to her.
Then her behaviour started to change. Now, when someone approached and tried to lift her out of her bed, she growled. Initially they thought it was funny, that is until a child was holding her and she started growling, and when nobody took any notice Bella nipped the little girl.
Bella also suddenly became very brave with Dolly and the play was becoming rough; they were now getting concerned. I watched the two little dogs playing and indeed it’s tricky. It was the sort of play you’d find OK between two dogs of the same age, but a bit rough for a puppy, although Bella now instigated a lot of it. It was simply too much. It’s like you might say to your children, ‘that’s enough, it will all end in tears’, or you would say to your older child, ‘don’t get her too excited, be gentle’. We all felt it was good that the two dogs were getting on so well and sometimes they would be lying down together – but at what stage in play is enough, enough. At what stage is it too much? The gentleman is inclined to panic where the lady tends to let them get on with it. I stand somewhere betwen the two.
They have a large wooden floored house. I noticed that with all the doors open and a lot of space, Dolly would charge at little Bella from a distance, bowl her over and hold her down with her mouth. She did the same thing in the garden. Play was much more equal in a smaller area. So, for a start I suggested shutting doors when they 
play or putting both together in the puppy pen they bought, and not to have them playing out free in the garden either for now.
As I watched, everything would be okay for a couple minutes, but each time there came a moment when the play tipped over into something more and it needs to be stopped before this point comes. They need to limit play to no more than five minutes at a time, possibly only a couple of minutes to start with, so puppy isn’t over-tired, over-stressed, over-excited or scared, and if possible to distract them with an item to tug between them.
Nine weeks old is such a baby, and she needs to be taught to play nicely with dogs. Dolly has a couple of doggy friends of her own age and size whose play is very noisy and boisterous, and she is doing the same with Bella.
I explained that not only was the approach of large humans very likely to be intimidating to Bella, but not all dogs like to be handled all the time in the way that Dolly does. Also, that growling is the puppy’s way of saying ‘I’m not comfortable. Please don’t do this’. To laugh or to ignore it is leading to trouble. If growling is ignored or discouraged, what is the dog forced to do next? They will now avoid picking her up altogether unless really necessary, and give her the opportunity to come over to them for a cuddle while they sit on the floor. They will ask guests to do the same. They will leave her in peace when she’s asleep. When they lift her in and out of her pen, they will give her a tiniest bit of chicken as they do so, to associate hands and lifting with something nice. I also showed them how to start teaching Bella to become comfortable with an approaching hand.
This is a crucial time in her life, and her experiences need to be nice ones.
07.05.2013
Malshi, Maltese, Maltese Terrier, Shi Tzu, growling, growling puppy, introducing new puppy, puppy, puppy playing with older dog
Little is known about German Shepherd Cross Molly’s past. She has been in the rescue centre for some months and probably kennelled with the company of another dog; it is evident she has had puppies. She is a young dog.
Molly is finding it hard to settle into her new home and goes frantic when her gentleman owner disappears from her sight.
In the four days they have had her, the man has been unable to leave her alone at night because Molly tries to break the door down to get to him. He doesn’t want her upstairs in the bedroom so he is sleeping downstairs in with her.
The lady is not well, and her anxiety is affecting Molly, I feel. It’s quite a clear example of how a dog picks up on the emotions of her humans. The man is calm. The lady is anxious. Over the past few days things are getting worse instead of better. The man leaving the room and especially the house causes Molly great distress and the lady’s comfort and concern just doesn’t help. In my photo Molly is still panting and stressed from the man having walked out of the front door for a minute to show me what happens.
The poor man is a prisoner in the house! To start with I have suggested that he doesn’t let Molly follow him around the house – starting with short absences only.
During the day lots of comings and goings are needed – not only from the room but also out of the front or back door. Absences of a few seconds to a minute only. Molly needs to realise that he always comes back. The lady will be in the room so Molly won’t be all alone yet, and she can help more if she does things differently. At present she so anxious for Molly that she comforts and fusses her in her distress and I fear she this is compounding the matter. I have suggested she turns on TV or to reads a book, and makes nothing of the man’s absence. Act like it’s normal. It is hard for her because she is a very kind lady and she’s unwell, she adores the dog already and so badly wants to bond with her and help her.
Molly is not accustomed to being the centre of so much attention and love, and from her body language I could sense that it’s a bit too much pressure on her. It’s like there are too many expectations of her. Possibly her attachment to the man is because he is more confident and doesn’t put demands upon her so she feels safe with him. Who knows what baggage she has brought with her?
Ten days later: Unfortunately this story doesn’t have a happy ending. The poor gentleman can’t cope with looking after the house and his sick wife, as well as a dog that needs a lot of time and effort spent on her. The emotionally-charged atmosphere around the lady was just too much for Molly, and due to her weakness she couldn’t physically cope when necessary. My contract with an owner is to help them in any way I can for as long as they need me. Sadly in this case it meant accompanying the man and Molly back to the re-homing kennels, giving them both moral support and helping ease his pain by reassuring him that he was doing the right thing for Molly. On the plus side, Molly seemed pleased to be back! For her it was like she had spent a fortnight away – boarding kennels in reverse! As I held her lead she was quite eager to go through gate to the kennel area with the barking dogs where she had spent so much time.
At least she now has some credentials other than having been found as a starving stray wandering the streets. They now know that she is house trained and well-mannered indoors and that she is friendly with visitors. She needs confident humans who won’t make too much fuss of her while they give her time to settle in. They also know that she needs company – possibly that of another dog. She is very re-homeable and will make a brilliant family pet.
It was sad watching the poor man handing over his beautiful black dog who was still wearing the new red collar he’d bought for her, along with her possessions including a large Stagbar. They had loved her but were just not the right home for her; nor was she the right dog for them. It happens.
06.05.2013
German Shepherd cross, Separation Anxiety, can't be left alone
Another puzzle insofar as it’s impossible to work out just why miniature English Bull Terrier Vinnie’s behaviour changed so drastically three years ago. A couple of things may have contributed to it. They moved house to somewhere a bit more busy, and Vinnie, now four, was reaching sexual maturity. He’s not been castrated. I do find that some dogs who had previously been relaxed with other dogs and with people may change in adolescence or upon reaching maturity.
Vinnie barks and growls aggressively at people he doesn’t know coming into the house. When I walked in he sounded quite scary. He has not yet bitten anyone and his owners didn’t describe the noise as fierce and warning, but as barking ‘in an excited, naughty way’. It didn’t sound like that to me. He also barks at people and some dogs when walking near home on their usual walking routes, but another part of his mystery is that at the lady’s mother’s house he doesn’t bark at people at all. Nor does he on holiday. Neither does he bark or stress when in the car and people and dogs pass by.
When he goes out for walks Vinnie drags his heels. He ‘will only walk one particular route’. He is reluctant to move – worse for the young lady although at home he follows her about. The gentleman puts pressure on him if he dawdles. Then, at a certain distance from the house Vinnie perks up and starts to take an interest in the walk, only to revert to his noisy barking and growling behaviour at people when on the way back and in sight of home.
More and more puzzling. If either the lady or gentleman takes him out alone, he doesn’t bark much although he still shows reluctance. When they walk him together he growls and barks at people he sees.
My best guess is that it’s to do with being protective and territorial. He shows none of the usual body language signs associated with fear or anxiety, and is very easily distracted with food. Really scared dogs or really angry dogs are unlikely to eat.
Whatever the reasons, our plan is based around the principal that reinforcement drives behaviour, and that dogs don’t do something for no reason at all. We can try to look at what is actually happening rather putting interpretations on it. Just the specifics. We look at what result, in his mind, he gets out of the behaviours. That is what needs to be changed, and alternative incompatible behaviours put in their place.
People often don’t realise that they are unintentionally giving their dogs most attention for doing unwanted behaviours in the form of commands and scolding, rather than encouragement and reward for desired behaviours.
PS. I spoke to colleague, behaviour trainer, author and close friend of mine Lisa Tenzin-Dolma about this puzzling case and she feels that it’s the house itself needing to be examined. They could look into its history. Could it perhaps have been built on landfill? Would the radon levels be worth checking? The couple are going to do some research. One must bear in mind that a dog’s senses are many times more acute than our own. One other strange thing came to light. A previous owner some years ago had been stabbed to death across the road. Believing in the psychic may be a step too far for some, but who knows.
Ten days have gone by: “We feel that Vinnie is listening to us more and is quicker to respond to us as well as seems calmer, we are very surprised to be honest as we feel everything we have done has been very easy and was expecting it to be harder some how but we have been doing just about everything you suggested. i feel that we have also changed and are calmer and reward Vinnie much more which he is responding to”.
26.04.2013
Barking, Barking at people, EBT, English Bull Terrier, Miniature English Bull Terrier, dragging on lead, reluctant to walk
A dog can find a park full of people easier than a quiet field with a lone person or dog. We are the same really, aren’t we. In a busy place we feel less exposed. There is no attention on us so it can be far less stressful. It can be more comfortable to be on a crowded tube train than sitting alone opposite one other person. In a crowd we feel invisible. Meg is quite extreme in this respect. They can take her through a busy town or a country show and she is fine with lots of people and dogs – accepts being touched even. But, if they are out in their quiet village streets, Meg is very reactive to any approaching dog or person. It starts with growling and then she will become very noisy. Very scared.
Meg (right) is a beautiful 8-month-old Belgian Shepherd and she lives with Australian Shepherd, Fin, age 6. She is yet another Shepherd-type breed who is skittish and scared of people and other dogs – but not in all situations.
If they are out in the fields and she spots an approaching person, she will panic. If someone wants to talk to her owner in the street, she becomes very noisy. When somebody comes to the house and into her presence, Meg backs away and growls. Even when she gets used to them, a sudden movement can start her off again. She doesn’t like approaching hands.
Meg goes to dog training classes where she is stressed and uneasy around people and dogs – growling at them when they come near and I feel this won’t be helping her at all. If this had succeeded in ‘socialising’ her, she would be okay by now. However, when she goes to watch Fin’s agility classes where there is a lot of commotion and activity, she is fine.
It’s a bit puzzling. She was alright until about three months old. Her breeder was careful to introduce her puppies to everyday sounds and household objects. Maybe there weren’t enough new humans in the mix? The other dog, Fin, is a big alarm-barker at people passing or entering their house, so perhaps this is infecting Meg?
Meg has had plenty of training – but that as such isn’t the answer. ‘To alter the behaviour we need to alter the emotion’. They have a good starting point with Meg being OK in crowds. I would suggest dropping out things they know stress her like the classes, and do a lot of work just within her comfort zone, getting her to trust them by reacting appropriately in a her doggy eyes. Dogs, for a start, don’t walk directly towards another dog or person they don’t know, unless it’s a friendly welcome or stalking. They would arc. If frightened, a sensible dog would take evasive action unless cornered. They need to work on her fear at what is an acceptable distance to Meg.
The bottom line is – Meg doesn’t feel safe. Just why is a mystery, although I have found it is very common in Shepherd dogs, bred to guard and often highly sensitive, intelligent and reactive.
25.04.2013
Australian Shepherd, Belgian shepherd, growling, scared of approaching people, scared of distand people, scared of other dogs, scared of people
Fifteen month old Archie is a puzzle. In most areas of his life he is the ideal dog, and his humans are the ideal owners. There may be a little bit of doing too much of what Archie wants – but then he asks so nicely! He is polite, gentle and endearing.
Normally when I go to a dog and look at the perceived problem, I find the cause is elsewhere and many of the areas of the dogs life need a little adjustment. In this case it really does seem to be mostly centred around the barking in the car.
From when he was younger, Archie would bark with excitement as soon as the engine was turned off - eager to get out and on with the walk. Then, a few months ago he started to bark continually during the journey as well. Other things indicate that this is about something different – anxiety. Archie has developed a dislike for the moving car. I’m sure it’s to do with things outside moving past or approaching fast. How is a dog to know that it’s the car moving and not the trees?
Non-stop barking in the car is dreadful. It hurts the ears, it’s very hard to keep calm and it’s difficult to concentrate on driving.
As the months have gone by, the behaviour has become entrenched. It has become a habit. The car is the place to bark. He believes that his barking determines the outcome of the journey, the walk or the arrival home – because that’s what always happens whether the barking is through eager excitement or through anxiety. He needs to learn that not barking determines the outcome – the walk. Quietness is what needs to be reinforced and rewarded. Archie needs to know what he should do rather than what he should not do. A new habit has to be established – two new habits in fact. One is to address the anxiety while the car is moving, and the other to address the excitement about the end of the journey. Barking always is eventually rewarded by arriving at the destination and nice things happening.
They need to ensure that, once out of the car it’s not immediate fun and feedom, but starts with controlled walking, and the same applies for getting back home.
Home needs to be boring for a while after they get home!
19.04.2013
Springer Spaniel, barking in the car
From time to time I go to people where the man is calm and confident with the dog whilst the lady cuddles and loves him, lets him make all his own decisions, but is much less assertive. The dog becomes increasingly bonded with the man and behaves like the lady is not particularly relevant.
The couple I went to see this evening have had two-year-old Mastiff Staffie cross Buster for six months now. Buster’s life revolves around the man and he takes little notice of the lady – especially when the man is at home. However, despite her gentle and affectionate nature, Buster can be quite scared of her for no reason seemingly. He loves to lie down between them on the sofa. One evening while he was fast asleep she reached out and touched him, and in panic he jumped up and ran upstairs where she found him cowering and shaking. This distressed her too. One can only speculate what damage a previous female owner may have done to him.
Knowing that he wasn’t confident around other dogs, his new lady has worked really hard, for weeks walking him with other dogs and making great headway. Then, very disappointingly, a quarrel with another dog over a stick turned into a fight. The lady shouted, but this seems to have been enough to terrrify him. Now Buster refuses to walk with her any more unless near to home. She panics whenever they see another dog, so walks that were previously enjoyable are now a disaster for them both. With the gentleman walks are fine!
Added to this, they had to have Buster castrated as agreed with the rehoming organisation, and since then his personality changed. He seems depressed. Is it coincidence? Who knows. I saw a photo of him previously and he looked alert and happy. Now he is mostly worried and sleepy.
The first part of our plan is to work on the lady’s confidence and for her to walk Buster near home where they are both happy – making a ‘guess where we are going’ game – and for the lady to rehearse what she will do when they see a dog, so that when it happens she is ready. Buster is scared and doesn’t feel safe so if she, too, is in a panic she can’t help him.
The gentleman is decisive and confident so it’s little surprise that the nervous Buster puts his faith in him.
And now, after about one month: “Buster is doing so well!! he is like a puppy again!! when i get his lead out for a walk he gets excited and actually walks like a proper dog down the road rather than plodding along with head down and when we let him off the lead he actually goes for a run and explore instead of sticking by our feet. he absolutley loves the field now and he gets so excited when he knows we are heading up there now!!
last night something amazing happened, buster was far ahead of me on our walk and i could see his ears and tail go up so i knew he had spotted a dog i shouted to him ‘wait’ and he simply sat down. when i caught up i couldn’t see anything so i told him to continue and as i turned the corner i saw a young man with a huge bull mastiff ! buster didn’t even try and go over but simply looked at the dog and continued walking!! his hairs didn’t go up, he didn’t go over to the dog and he didn’t bark or growl!! he just looked at me as if to say ‘lets go’!! i was so proud that even though he could see a dog he still sat and waited like he had been asked, and he didnt go and start with the other dog just carried on. he was so happy last night and i am hoping this was not a one off!!! he run all round the field and played in the garden for nearly 2 hours with a ball when we got home!! …..he even went and got his colar from his box and in effect asked for a walk,for a dog that never wanted to leave the house this is such an achievement!!
18.04.2013
aggressive to dogs on walks, depressed, mastiff staffie cross
Because a dog jumps all over you when you arrive, grabs and mouths you and excitedly runs around panting and carrying toys, I don’t believe it is necessarily simply a display of friendliness.
Pale Labrador Daisy was certainly not unfriendly, but all this hyperactivity when I arrived spelt something different to me.
I liken dogs like this to the sort of person who opens the door to a guest, and then is all over them, kissing them, welcoming them, forcing drink and food onto them, fussing around, talking non-stop and never leaving them alone. A human doing this would be in a highly anxious state – certainly not relaxed and simply happy to see her guest.
The reason I was called is that Daisy is erratic with other dogs when out – but not all dogs thankfully. She is fine with some and not with others. I could see that she was also quite highly strung at home. When I arrived the excitement carried on for about twenty minutes until she lay down and panted for a while before settling. Daisy lives with 13-year -old Weimaraner Suzy (looking like a queen on her chair!). Suzy is doing brilliantly for her age, but as a younger dog was apparently even more hyped up than Daisy.
I am a believer in a dog being as comfortable as possible when out walking and encountering other dogs, using equipment that also gives the owner maximum confidence, because an anxious dog will immediately pick up on anxiety in her person. We looked at Daisy’s stiff and rather uncomfortable harness and then I showed the sort I prefer. As soon as harnesses came out Daisy was looking away, obviously very uneasy. She went and hid under a chair. This is how she is before walks. Worried.
There is a lot of general stuff to be done at home to do to give Daisy maximum faith in her owners and to boost her confidence. At the moment both dogs get everything they ask for in terms of attention on demand, whilst not necessarily cooperating when demands are made upon them. Daisy will be happier and more confident with a reward-based relationship where she is happy working with humans who make firm decisions, don’t give in to her all the time and help to make her feel safe when out. It will then be their decision whether or not she should engage with a certain dog and not hers.
Daisy has been to training classes and knows a lot of commands. Some things take more than just training though – they take respect and willingness too, so in a way it’s the humans that need to learn. Things like the mouthing and jumping up have been unwittingly reinforced. If telling her to ‘get down’ or to ‘stop’ happened to work, she would no longer be doing these things at two years of age.
16.04.2013
Golden Labrador, Jumping up, Labrador, Yellow Labrador, aggressive to dogs on walks, mouthing, weimeraner
Yesterday I met beautiful two year old rescued Boxer/Staffie cross Patch who lives with delightful but more reserved crossbreed Freya. I knew that I was there because Patch had bitten four people, but it was just so hard to imagine. There were absolutely no vibes around him. Adorable.
I like to take all the background first before focusing on the perceived problem, because often the problem is a symptom of other things, not the cause. The dogs live with a family of four, the youngest being seventeen. It was evident that certain members of the family when with the dogs give, especially Patch, non-stop attention.
He’s given attention whenever he demands it and he is given attention when he’s not demanding it. It’s all a bit high key. He jumps all over them and it’s encouraged. Apart from this leading to a certain lack of manners and self-control and Patch’s reactivity of other dogs when out, everything else ticks along nicely.
We then picked apart each of the four occasions when Patch had bitten. We need to find out everything possible running up to the bite, during the bite, and what happened immediately afterwards.
The strange thing is that the biting really does seem without warning, out of the blue. Twice he launched himself at someone’s stomach and the other two times it was as the person walked away from them. There was no growling. Nobody was looming over him or trying to touch him. They didn’t react angrily.
There were only a few common denominators: the victims were people he didn’t know, each person had been standing, Freya had been present and on the run-up Patch may have been a little more stressed than usual. Apart from that I could see no obvious cause and nothing in more in common between the incidents. However, the next day in conversation with a colleague, it hit me! On each occasion Patch was being ignored. On three occasions the family members’ attention was on the other person and not on Patch. On the fourth, the person was walking away from him. I believe that just like a spoilt child that might kick someone if he doesn’t get his own way, Patch launches himself and bites.
I have asked the family to work on behaviours incompatible with launching and biting someone; on putting a few demands and constraints upon him. In time they should be getting Patch to work for them by teaching him to do things they want, exercising his brain, using rewards so that good things are earned and not always free, so that he can cope with the frustration of not being the centre of attention.
If by any chance I am wrong, our strategies are still appropriate and will go towards having a dog with better self-control, healthy mental stimulation and better manners.
12.04.2013
Biting, attention seeking, biting people, boxer/Staff x
This is English Bull Terrier Indie. He is now two years old and ever since he was a puppy he would throughout a walk frequently put the anchors on, starting a few yards from their own drive – and he’s now well known in the area! He would simply lie down and refuse to budge. Believing that they should not be beaten, that he should not ‘dominate’ them, his owners would then drag him until he was forced to move forward again. Sometimes he would go on strike and lie on his back in the middle of the road with one of the daughters, and there was simply nothing she could do while the cars tried to drive around them.
The relationship between the dog and his family has deteriorated, largely fuelled by anger at being defied by him which has led to quite a confrontational relationship with the lady in particular. He is a constant trial to her now. He gets all his attention from being ‘bad’ and it has now got to the stage where the lady is at odds with her family, feeling so angry and upset, at her wits end, that she would be happy to see Indie go.
Some dogs we have done our best with and put so much work and love into can make us feel exasperated, let down and angry, and it becomes a sort of downward spiral as we try to gain ‘control’. It can become a shadow over our lives, making us feel helpless and unhappy.
What I saw was an intelligent dog that was seldom given the chance to please. He was mostly being corrected – crossly. His attention came either when he was insistent and demanded it, or when he was doing something they didn’t like. Over the months their efforts to ‘control’ him have led to him growling and snapping – mostly when someone has physically tried to move him or when he is protecting a valued resource – whether it’s a huge bone or the daughter’s boyfriend.
Whereas the people would say NO as he tried to leap onto someone on the sofa, I gently clapped my hands and pointed at the floor with a gentle ‘Indie Off’, knowing that he would come down straight away and he was rewarded with ‘Good Boy’. With Indie it’s a question of showing him what he should do – not what he shouldn’t.
He’s crying out for attention but is getting it for all the wrong things. Because of the problem on walks he now has little exercise or happy stimulation. A mix of gaining his willing cooperation in all aspects of his relationship with his owners through encouragement, reward and praise rather than force and confrontation, things to do as well as a cunning plan to get him walking willingly – making sure that if anxiety is anything to do with it that it’s treated appropriately – should change his life. And make his owners happy also – especially the lady.
I bought a T-shirt at the Victoria Stilwell seminar I attended last weekend printed with ‘Kindness is Powerful’. That says it all really. But what is kindness? It’s not doing everything a dog demands and giving it control over you (spoiling it), and then despairing when it won’t cooperate when you wish it do to do something. Bonding comes through understanding and patience.
11.04.2013
English Bull Terrier, Victoria Stilwell, positive reinforcement, refusiong to walk
Henry is a wonderful two-year-old Springer without an ounce of malice – but with a mind of his own. If he’s called in from the garden he knows when it’s important and when it’s not. If they need to go to work or if it’s bedtime, he stands just out of reach and stares – catch me if you can! They can’t have him barking at night in the garden so may be enticed or chased. He is just the same on walks.
The aim of my visit seemed simple – for Henry to come straight away when called - but it’s really a lot more complicated.
The problem really is one of Henry finding his owners insufficiently relevant and the fun he gets out of winding them up is a lot more rewarding than anything else they have to offer. He’s not taught to be respectful and jumps all over his people like they are not particularly important. Everything is lavished on Henry and their other Springer Eddie unearned so it’s not surprising that when they want something from him he just gives them ‘that look’! See the picture on the left.
On walks he can accurately judge the place where they might want to put him on lead even when they think they are varying it. Walks are ruined by his non-stop barking for the ball (which of course he gets to keep him quiet). He is obsessed with plastic ball-throwers and no other dog owner playing ball with their dog is safe from his attentions – he will leap around to grab the ball-thrower! Last weekend on the beach, with lots of dogs, balls and ball-throwers, was the final straw. He barked non-stop.
I demonstrated in a few minutes how I could get his full attention on me, and get him to do anything I asked straight away – including coming in from outside. This isn’t about training as such – he knows basic commands. It’s psychology. I started by rationing my attention, by only giving it when his feet were on the ground and when he was polite so that he would respect me, by ignoring some (not all) of his friendly advances. Anything too freely available loses it’s value and the same applies to attention.
I also used tiny treats to thank him when he did as I asked. I first called the other dog Eddie and rewarded him for coming. I ignored Henry (who of course then came straight away). Then I called Henry. Of course he came! Speaking quietly and giving commands just once, I put him through all the ‘tricks’ he’d been taught. He really enjoyed working for me. He needs some brain work not created by himself.
I predict that Henry will up his game now that his current ploys are thwarted – and he’ll think up other things! He will probably become frustrated and try harder, so they will need to work patiently through this and keep on their toes! For now, if they need him in from the garden promptly, he should only go out on a long lead. On walks it’s the same. He should have no opportunity to play them up by being on a long line – and recall worked on – using rewards. At the end of the walk, when they put his short lead back on again, his reward can be the ball to carry. That way a ball now will be associated only with coming home.
Three weeks later: I am enjoying seeing Henry pogress and taking the dogs ou has become really enjoyable again.
04.04.2013
Springer Spaniel, ball obsession, come when called, recall, won't come when called
Half of the German Shepherds I have been to over the past year have had the problem of being reactive and scared of people coming into their homes. It’s a high percentage compared with other breeds. Nineteen-week-old Monty is no exception and it’s sad for a dog so young to be thus burdened.
Monty came from a breeder who had a lot of dogs but not many human visitors. I am a firm believer in puppies having a lot of handling by lots of different people from a very young age. This is more likely to happen in a home environment than a breeder’s with several litters and lots of dogs, probably kept outside the house. Monty’s owners chose a shy puppy and so he has not only inadequate socialising to humans but an unconfident nature also. This is not an easy combination for a guarding breed like German Shepherd.
It was worse with my own Milly whom I took home from a client at fourteen weeks old – a truly terrified puppy-farm puppy who hadn’t had any interaction with humans at all until twelve weeks old when, shaking and frozen with fear, she was carried to their car. She was in the same state when I carried her into my own house a couple of weeks later. She was terrified of all humans including initally myself. I have worked hard with her ever since to the point where the intial surprise of someone arriving is a few woofs which is to be expected and she settles fast. It will never be ‘job done’.
Little Monty (with those huge ears!) is a self-controlled puppy who is not destructive and seldom jumps up; he’s very affectionate – but he is easily scared. On walks he is jumpy and skittish even with birds, and he feels very threatened if a person approaches, particularly when he’s on lead – people can’t resist saying hello to puppies! Monty will lunge and bark.
His humans will be working hard to show him that he can trust them to look after him by how they themselves react – to help him out. He needs positive associations with people whilst he still having an escape route if necessary.
It is also important that Monty learns right away always to touch base with them when another dog appears. There is a disproportionate number of dogs afraid of German Shepherds having been attacked by one. Likewise, it’s important for Monty to meet only stable dogs so he, too, learns that other dogs are not a threat.
Although his recall so far is good, a mix of being scared, being a guarding breed and not being under complete control when out would not be a good scenario for the future without work.
The lady suggested my methods were ‘alternative’. Modern positive methods used by all principled modern trainers and behaviourists educated in learning theory are alternative to old-fashioned punishment-based dog training. I am sorry that no puppy and dog training classes I know of in my own areas are up date and still use force and harsh commands and negatives (if you know differently I will promote them big time). For instance, if he is harshly told ‘leave it’ when approaching another dog, what message does that give to a wary puppy? How much better ‘Good Dog’ and encouragement – even food!
03.04.2013
Alsation, Barking, Barking at other dogs, Barking at people, Barking at visitors, GSD, German Shepherd, German Shepherd puppy, fear of people, scared of people
Fourteen months ago I went to help Pogo (see his story). Here he is on the right in a recent photo with a friend. I just must share his email with you.
Hi Theo, remember me, the mad car chasing, washing machine hooligan, law unto myself (how could you forget me!), the busy rescue collie x lab (or as my mum says apart from my looks I am 100% collie in my outlook on life). I’m just about to turn 2yrs old and what a wonderful last year I have had!
I know that when my mum last e-mailed you, she said how she wished for the day my family could take me on holiday with them. Well it happened and it was great, I’d not had a holiday with a family before. We went to Yorkshire Moors last August and it was fantastic. Who would have thought I would ever be well behaved enough to go on holiday.
We spent most days walking on the moors, going to the beach – that was really good fun, I got to paddle in the sea, went to cafes for lunch where I got lots of goodies, did tricks for any children that wanted to give me a treat (yes, I can do tricks now like sit, paw, down, stay, come, wait and you can put a treat in front of my nose and I will not touch it until I’m told I can). My mum is always telling me what a clever boy I am and she gives me big kisses (yuk), but is always telling me how much my forever family love me.
One of the local ladies actually asked my mum if she would sell me and how much she wanted. My mum’s answer took no thought and firmly told the lady that I was not for sale, for any price. I was very well behaved wherever I went, but was very interested in the funny white fluffy animals on the moors and in the fields, I think my mum called them sheep, I wanted to chase them, but wasn’t allowed to play with them. My family told me many times how proud they were of me…..
I have loads of doggy friends that I meet on walks and even friends who come to our house.
Last week we went to the Fun Dog Show. I had a great time. I did some agility (yes, I can do that now as well and I’m very good at it. In fact I won the very first competition I entered). I’ve also had a go at Flyball and guess what, I’m good at that too (I’m known as the pocket rocket, I may have short legs but I have the speed and stamina of a collie). My girl person took me in the child handler class and you’ll never believe it, we came in 2nd place. What an achievement because a year ago even my mum and dad struggled to handle me. The only bad thing was that I came in 2nd to
Anyway, thought I better take time to write and give you an update. I know my mum has thanked you loads of times, but I would like to thank you for encouraging my family to have patience and give me a chance.
Doesn’t everyone just love happy endings, I am certainly very lucky (and so are my family for having me!).
See you soon, POGOxxxxxxxxxx
02.04.2013
Collie cross, Terrier, chasing cars, rescue dog
Over the past three years Spud has become grumpy, and it seems this may have coincided with the onset of his arthritis. He had an operation three months ago and is still on painkilling medication.
Spud is a 9-year-old Parson Russell Terrier who is friendly and well-mannered. A dear little dog. His lady owner has a new man in her life and when the gentleman approaches the bedroom Spud growls and lunges at him from his basket by the doorway (when she’s alone he is in bed with her) and this is getting worse – his teeth have been felt. The man beats a quick retreat which is just what Spud wants of course.
Worse than that, a couple of years ago he bit the little grandson. Like many dogs, Spud is alarmed when people suddenly appear. At the time he was peacefully in the garden shed with the lady when all of a sudden the three-year-old child appeared in the doorway. It’s possible Spud didn’t mean to draw blood, but he got the child’s face, and consequently the now five year old is terrified of him and refuses to go in the house unless Spud is shut away.
On each instance of growling or aggression, the lady has been nearby. Initially Spud lived alone with her and it seems he feels he has ownership rights and protection duty towards her.
The lady needs now to be behaving a bit differently so Spud can trust her to look after herself. Very importantly, we have worked out a plan for getting the little grandson and Spud back together again managing things so that it’s simply impossible for Spud to hurt him. This is about giving the little boy confidence again as well as Spud, so lots of positive associations need to be used whilst they are near one another – initially with a child gate between them and never left alone.
Spud has free reign to go anywhere he likes, sleep where he likes and go outdoors via a dog flap – whenever he likes. There are no boundaries. No wonder he shoulders responsibility, so this will slowly be changed. Also, he is fed some unsuitable stuff and this could well affect his behaviour – and his weight. I suggest his food should be restricted to his dog food, with special stuff like chicken reserved for making good associations with the little boy. As a lighter dog he would probably suffer less from arthritic pain.
29.03.2013
Bit child, Parson Russell Terrier, Parsons, Parsons Terrier, growling, growling at child
Tara is onto her fourth home now. Looking at her history she had little or no socialising for the first year of her life. Her new owners didn’t realise she was going to be so reactive to people – and to other dogs. Nobody had told them.
Like so often happens unfortunately, new owners don’t get what they had bargained for. In this case the rehoming organisation had taken the previous people’s word for it and passed her over on the same day. They had done no assessment of Tara themselves. The couple had specifically requested a dog that gets on with people and other dogs so they could make her part of their lives for the next ten years perhaps. Instead, when their first visitor called, Tara horrified and shocked them by suddenly morphing into a wild dervish, barking and lunging. She is just the same with people she meets out on walks.
Then they called in a trainer and OH DEAR! The dog, already highly aroused by the man’s presence, was treated to metal discs being crashed on the floor in front of her in an effort to intimidate her and make her submit, and then the horrific sound of a compressed air from a can, something sometimes used to break up fights. It sent poor Tara into even more of frenzy and I would say it’s very fortunate the man wasn’t badly bitten.
Fortunately the couple weren’t having any more of this with the dog they were growing to love. They have had her for several weeks now and have made great progress at home – so long as it is just themselves, but are now at their wits’ end and wondering what to do.
I don’t usually go into as much detail as I have here. The reason is that the strategies are fashioned around a particular dog’s problems and their causes. This method won’t apply to every dog that barks at people. If you have a dog like this, it is very important to get professional help so the strategies are appropriate to your specific dog’s needs and problems.
When I arrived Tara was barking and lunging, straining on her lead, tightly held by the gentleman. The lead was attached to a collar which would have added pain to the situation (dogs necks aren’t much different to our own). I could see that the restraint was making her worse, and with no known history of actual biting I suggested he dropped the lead wherupon, as I expected, she charged at me. I stood still, sideways to her, explaining to the couple the calming signals I was using – slow blinking, looking away, relaxed posture, breathing slowly – and we carried on talking over the noise for a while. I pointed out that their own posture should be relaxed also (not easy!).
I then asked them what they would usually do. They had developed a strategy for when people did visit of training an incompatible behaviour by getting her to lie down and put her chin to the floor, which was good but only lasted a couple of seconds before she was up and barking again. Lying down did nothing to change her inner emotions and fears.
We experimented. We worked on removing her from what she was finding a scary situation immediately the barking started, whilst at the same time associating my presence with good stuff, using a clicker.
They put a harness on her to avoid any unpleasant association with pain in the neck and myself. I sat down at the table to make things as easy as possible for her and asked the man to take her just out of sight until she stopped barking. Then he’s to bring her back, being ready turn around again the very moment she began to bark. This wasn’t so that her barking was being reinforced by getting rid of me because I was going nowhere. The man was helping her out by removing her from the situation.
Now, as soon as she was quiet he brought her back so she could see me. Timing is extremely important. As soon as she looked to me without barking, he clicked and fed her chicken. This went on for a while until I could walk around the room and she was relaxed – click/chicken. Next we experimented with my going to the front door area and appearing again – upping the anti. Next I opened the front door and shut it again before coming into her presence.
This method needs to be used when they are out also, being careful to keep within her threshold and work on the ‘advance/retreat’ and clicker whenever she’s quietly watching someone, doing their best not to go any nearer to people than she can cope with. They have a big job to build up her trust in them and undo past history.
They need to practise it with each other, going out, knocking on the door, coming in etc. and then with anyone they can get to visit – starting with people Tara has met before. It can be done with the neighbour whose presence looking over the fence sends her into a panic. It can be done with the chickens in the garden. As they turn, they can add ‘Let’s Go’ in preparation for encountering unexpected people or dogs outside. It’s just as much teaching the owners as teaching the dog. Good timing is essential.
Many dogs hate the sound of people banging on the front door which is understandable. I suggested a cheap wireless doorbell. Before putting it up outside the door they could repeatedly ring it indoors and for several days associate the sound of it with food or games. When the bell is put up outside the door, they should continue to ring it for no reason at all. In this way when people come Bella won’t be fired up so early in the process.
One other point is that their sort of walks are probably not helping her to keep calm. They are overstimulating in terms of play and scary encounters. It’s a big ask to get people to avoid close encounters for as long as it takes, but there is no other choice and where there’s a will – there’s a way.
You can’t exhaust a dog out of being fearful.
26.03.2013
Aggressive to other dogs, Barking, Barking at other dogs, Barking at people, Barking at visitors, German Shepherd, aggressive to dogs on walks, aggressive to people, aggressive to visitors, clicker training
What a character Labradoodle Poppy is! Here she is chewing something in our attempt to keep her calm (it didn’t last for long).
Poppy is a sixteen months old adolescent and she has a wonderful temperament. She is a very stable dog in the main with few of the usual problems I go to. She’s happily left alone for several hours a day in her crate. She’s extremely friendly. She has never shown any signs of aggression. She’s good if over-boisterous with other dogs. She’s not much of a barker.
It’s her over-excitement that is causing problems. She is extremely hyped up around people, especially unfamiliar ones.
Her excitement and restlessness when I met her seemed out of sync with her other traits and it was a bit puzzling. She lives with a single lady but is not over-indulged or spoilt; the atmosphere is calm although the lady does a lot with her. As an intelligent young dog, she may need more mental stimulation than she’s getting and to see more people. It’s Catch 22, because due to her behaviour people are avoided. If a human were this manic and excitable when I met them, I would imagine them to be anxious and not very confident. I think, under the bluster, it’s thus with Poppy. She sent subtle body language signals that backed up this theory.
Poppy continued to pace and demand attention for a long time – until she was put in her crate where she instantly settled down, like she was relieved. She goes to pieces unless she is externally controlled with commands. She has no self-control. So, self-control and de-stressing are the angles we are working on.
On walks, despite wearing a Gentle Leader which she keeps trying to remove, Poppy pulls. She has pulled the lady over a couple of times resulting in injury. When she sees a person, if they take any notice of her at all she lunges, spins around and jumps about. She seems overjoyed. She can’t be let off-lead because she would overwhelm people and other dogs with her excitement and jumping about.
Walks need to be done entirely differently, ‘self-control’ starting before leaving the house. Forget heel work and concentrate on walking on a loose lead, focusing on the lady and not other people. This will take time, but we have a plan!
Poppy has been to lots of training classes. ‘Heel’ to Poppy means come back, receive a treat and then start to pull again! She’s not silly!
There is a saying – to alter the behaviour we need to alter the emotion. I did also wonder whether a change in diet might make a difference so the lady will try that too.
25.03.2013
Jumping up, Labradoodle, Pulling on lead, adolescent, hyperactive, jumping all over people
Here is nine-year-old Pippa, watching the little girl. What is the child going to do next? Is she going to toddle towards her? Pippa doesn’t like that. She growls.
Things are getting worse. The other day the child was beside her dad, and Pippa rushed between them, curling her lips as she growled at the toddler. As we know, a growl is a warning. I suspect that the situation is snowballing because of the understandable anxiety displayed by the family and their strong reactions when Pippa does growl. By being punished for growling she’s being taught not to give warning, so what might she do instead?
Like many dogs, Pippa always has been uncomfortable when approached directly, stared at or loomed over, but one can’t teach a fifteen-month-old and somewhat unpredictable baby not to do this. In the picture you can read Pippa’s concern as she watches the child from her bed. Normally she wouldn’t be in her bed while the child was about. She would constantly be circling her, head down and with her tail between her legs – growling. It is an accident waiting to happen.
I didn’t see it for myself which was unusual. I encouraged calm and positive messages using call-aways, reward and praise with no warning commands or scolding (I actually did much the same with the little girl when she approached Pippa)!
There is a quote from somewhere, ‘Change the state of mind and you change the behaviour‘. Pippa needs to associate the child with good stuff like relaxed people, praise and food – not a threat, scolding and anxiety. She simply doesn’t feel safe around the child and needs help. She is a stressy little dog, so reducing her stress levels in every way possible will go a long way towards making her more tolerant. This of course is not enough. The situation meanwhile needs to be managed by means of equipment like gates and a pen, to ensure that both the child and the dog are 100% safe - the baby from injury and the dog from the ultimate punishment for a dog that bites a child.
Just over a week later: “So much better. Pip is no longer corralling (the toddler) and has completely stopped the stalking. We feel she is generally calmer but we still quite a way off from pip being calm and happy but its very early days and we are really pleased with her progress”.
20.03.2013
Jack Russell, growling, growling at child, herding toddler
Two months ago there was a big change in the life of these six dogs and it coincides with the start of their unrest. They are all gorgeous and things were OK between them before.
Jack Russell X Alfie, on the right, attacks Yorkshire Terriers Benjie and Archie, and Benjie (on the left) has sustained injuries. In the heat of the moment, the two Yorkies may also redirect onto one another and fight. Then there will be a lot of barking and shouting. There are also two females, a very old German Shepherd and another Jack Russell, and an old Yorkie who is at the end of his days – in the bed behind Archie (below). They keep out of it.
The dogs live with a middle-aged b
rother and sister. What makes this situation especially difficult is that the gentleman, being at home all day, is the main carer; he had an accident as a child and it has left him with certain cognitive problems. In addition, the lady is extremely stressed and this will be picked up by the dogs. Even the parrot shouts ‘WILL YOU ******* SHUT UP’ at the dogs – a clue to the level of stress in this household!
The lady is at work most of the time. She loves her dogs and doesn’t want to have to part with any of them.
Alfie who is the instigator, is very close to the man and now spends most of his time in his room upstairs where he’s made to feel very special. He growls if on his lap and the lady approaches – or one of the male dogs comes near. All the fights occur only in the presence of the man. He has to walk them in relays to avoid walking two boys together, and the first to be taken are the first to squeeze through the door! At the end of each walk, when they reunite in the kitchen doorway, fights may ensue at his feet – unsurprising really when there is such manic excitement and jostling to get through the door first.
Fights also occur around food. The man simply puts three or four bowls down around the kitchen and it’s a free-for-all.
Simply with safety in mind, the situation has to be managed before we can go any further. With just two downstairs rooms and the only entrance to the house leading directly into the sitting room which leads through to the kitchen, it’s a logistical nightmare. We need a gate in the kitchen doorway so that Alfie can safely be near the other dogs and to make comings and goings easier. They are getting a puppy pen for the kitchen as there is currently no way to separate dogs when necessary.
The man is unable to read so a written plan doesn’t help him. I role-played with the him the routine for taking the dogs in and out for walks. Taking Alfie first, then leaving him upstairs before entering the kitchen. Now sit down have a cuppa and wait for all the dogs to calm down. Then choose the next two, leaving a couple in the pen, and on returning sit down and wait for calm again …. and so on. We also role-played a routine whereby the dogs were fed separately from their own bowls in their own areas, and the food was not left down.
I so hope the pen idea works and that the gentleman can remember the routines. With all the swapping about and dogs left in different places it will be a bit like a doggy Whitehall farce! Once peace is established we can do more work on the behaviour side of things.
Three days later: I’m over the moon! I called, almost dreading what I might hear, and the man has taken all our role-play completely to heart. The first words the lady said were ‘Absolutely fantastic’! No fights. Much calmer. In a couple of weeks we will work at gradually integrating the dogs again.
Nearly three weeks have now gone by, and things are going from strength to strength. The gentleman is sticking to the plan to the letter, and is now enjoying the dogs. Alfie is much happier and waggy-tailed, and is gradually being integrated with the other dogs. He plays with Archie and Maggie and has short periods when he is together with all the other dogs including Benjie – with no fighting.
09.03.2013
Jack Russell, Yorkie, Yorkshire Terrier, dog fighting, fighting, fighting male dogs
5-month-old Sprocker brothers Ollie and Benjie live in the kitchen, along with 10-year-old Springer Flossie. The room was full with a large table, a small sofa and two crates, three young children, the couple and their adult son. Because of the family’s work schedules, the young dogs spend hours each day in their crates, having already been shut in there for about nine hours at night. The poor people hadn’t intended this to happen, but a family member who had joint responsibility had left without warning.
Sometimes a problem can be so overwhelming it’s hard to know where to start. Things were understandably a bit more chaotic than usual because of my arrival and because it was nearly bedtime for the three young children, so I saw the young dogs at their worst which is probably a good thing.
When the dogs were let out of their crates they were completely out of control, jumping all over people, up at the table and sides, nicking anything they could reach and toileting due both to excitement and the fact nobody thinks to put them outside regularly enough. For this reason, a lot of the time even when the family is in the kitchen, the young dogs have to be crated or outside.
They don’t let them out of their crates separately, feeling it’s unfair. However, I found that impossible so we shut one away at a time – and I lent the crated one my Stagbar to chew which he loved. Then, while we talked and after the children had gone to bed, I worked on the other dog. I showed the people how their own reactions to the jumping up is giving the dogs the only real attention they get, and how we could give them even better attention when they were behaving well. We worked on their jumping at the table and sides. This will be a big challenge, taking time, patience and consistency from the three adults.
In the time I was there I had taught both dogs to sit, and one of them to lie down upon request. I used rewards, something they are not used to. Ollie was doing all he could to be good. He was like a sponge. Sitting deliberately instead of jumping up. Bless him. He managed to sit still for long enough for me to take a photo of him (above). From now on the dogs should be earning some of their food – being rewarded all the time they behave well. This will be very difficult in the bustle and noise when young children are about, but they don’t need even more time crated, do they.
Because of the unruly situation, unsurprisingly the two dogs sometimes fight and unchecked this will probably get worse as they get older. Poor Flossie is terrorised. The pups may fly all over children on the sofa and I am concerned a child may get hurt.
The dogs have just one short outing each day – you can’t really call it a walk. The front door is opened and they fly out to the adjacent park, off lead, doing their own thing. They are puppies but already barking at people and other dogs.
There was one surprisingly good thing – showing what these dogs are capable of when given time and trouble. I watched the adult son preparing their food. They sat calmly and waited!
This is not a situation the family had envisaged when they got the puppies. I feel that if they can’t find a lot more quality time for their dogs then they would be better with just one pup – or maybe even re-homing them both. This would both give the dogs the lives they deserve, and it would give the family their lives back.
07.03.2013
Hyper, Jumping up, Jumping up at the sides, Sprocker, Toiletting indoors, crated, dog crate, hyperactive, jumping all over people, training
When people call me about their dog, they nearly always, feeling disloyal, first list their dog’s good points. They tell me that their dog is ‘perfect dog in the house’, or a ‘very loving dog’…..BUT…..and then they tell me about the difficulties they are having and the distress it is causing them.
Alfie, the Staffie/Hungarian Viszla mix I went to yesterday evening, really is a ‘very good dog’. He’s affectionate, biddable and gets on with all people and other dogs…..with just a couple of BUTS. He is 11 months old.
One BUT is that from the start he has jumped up, mouthed or grabbed arms and clothing, and this intensifies the more excited he is. Recently he actually left tooth marks on a friend’s arm, and his lady owner realised that her efforts to stop the behaviour simply weren’t working. Without realising it, she has been reinforcing the behaviour. Dogs (and people) only choose to do things because they get something out of it. We unintentionally reinforce unwanted behaviour. It can take an outsider to see clearly just what is happening.
Approaching with his mouth open is almost a default mode for Alfie when he’s not calm. It is endured initially – and when it gets too much it has been dealt with by giving him the attention he has been seeking – in terms of ‘Down’, No’,'Ouch’ and so on. In fact, the excited tone in which the lady calls him to her and greets him unwittingly invites the behaviour. Then her hands are all over him and near his face, and as she moves them to avoid being mouthed they become something to chase.
Simply ignoring Alfie doesn’t give him a clear enough message. At the very moment his mouth engages, the hand or limb should be withdrawn in a deliberate fashion and the person break all contact with Alfie – turning away from him. If he is actually grabbing then she must freeze until he stops and a little longer The attention then comes when he’s not grabbing. If done every single time it should become absolutely clear to him exactly what he should not be doing. Even an accidental touch with his teeth during play should result in instant withdrawal.
Of course this is only one half of the process. He also needs to be taught better things to do – things incompatible with jumping up, mouthing and grabbing.
For the lady to cut down on physical contact and excitable interaction with Alfie will leave her in a sort of vacuum where interacting with her beloved dog is concerned, so we need to fill it with useful stuff. Clicker training will be ideal for both of them as Alfie learns that he can have the best control over both himself and his environment without using his mouth and she can give him as much attention as she likes without it resulting in mouthing.
I just had to take the picture on the left. Alfie had hopped into the lady’s chair and she had returned. He’s waiting to be asked to get off!
05.03.2013
Hungarian Viszla, Jumping up, Staff, Staffie, Staffie Viszla cross, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Viszla, clicker training, grabbing clothes, mouthing
Little Lakeland Terrier Whisky is seriously reactive to other dogs. As soon as she sees a dog she begins to scream, and if she can get to it she will attack, grabbing its neck and holding on.
She lives with a lovely 2 year old Labrador, training to be a gun dog. Bramble also has felt those teeth. They are getting on reasonably well now because Bramble has learnt that, when Whisky gives her ‘that look‘ (see picture on the left), she’s to back off!
I have certain issues with the training methods used with Bramble and which are also now applied to Whisky. Bramble is taken to gun dog training classes. There is a lot of ‘correction’ and negative stuff like ‘Leave’, ‘Down’, ‘Off’ and ‘No’ rather than positives - what they should be doing along with praise and reward. In fact their trainer says don’t use food rewards at all. Would you happily work for nothing? Here is just a small example of how it goes – the lady ‘commanded’ Whisky to sit several times and eventually had to touch her back to get her to do so. I later asked her to sit, quietly, just the once, and waited. And waited. Whisky sat. Then I rewarded her. After that she was totally focused on me. If she were my dog and I built on that bond and relationship, I am sure I could make progress when out where Whisky and other dogs are concerned, because she would be focusing on me and trusting me.
I don’t know if it’s a gun dog thing, but commands like ‘Sit’ are also accompanied by peeps on the whistle – like Captain Von Trapp in th
e Sound of Music getting his family into line.
They also have problems with both dogs’ recall – especially when there is another dog about. Bramble wants to play, Whisky is scared stiff, screaming and ready to attack. If I were a dog I would be much more likely to come back when called if I were called in an inviting voice rather than ‘ordered’ and if I knew that there was something in it for me.
Behavioural theory has proved beyond any doubt that positive and reward-based training is more effective – and it works just as well for gun dogs, traditionally trained in the old-fashioned way using a degree of force and even aversives. Positive methods help to form a healthy and trusting bond between human and dog.
There was a wonderful demonstration of positively trained gun dogs breaking the tradition at Crufts last year: http://www.dogsforlife.co.uk/training/gun-dog-demonstration-at-crufts-2012.aspx
04.03.2013
Aggressive to other dogs, Labrador, Lakeland Terrier, Reactive to other dogs, aggressive to dogs on walks, gun dog, gun dog training, gun dogs at crufts, recall
There was no barking when I rang the doorbell. Was I at the right house? I was greeted politely by beautiful 16-month-old Chocolate Labrador, Tilly. Here she is, posing on the turquose rug!
By 6am every morning Tilly wakes up and starts to bark. She barks and she barks. This happens in the weekends also which is annoying. Because they get up at 6.30 anyway Tilly obviously feels that her barking is rewarded if she keeps it up for long enough. Then she is usually given her breakfast straight away.
The only possible external cause we could think of for the early wake up is the boiler coming on at about 6am. Neighbours may routinely be going to work, but not at weekends. She is, however, rewarded for barking in a big way. Either the lady or the gentleman comes down. LOVELY. She is probably given a bit of fuss. LOVELY. Then she has breakfast. LOVELY. All these lovely things happening at the beginning of the day under her own terms (or so she believes).
Upon examination many of the other things in Tilly’s life are regulated by her if she is sufficiently persistent, including when she is touched (she mouths when she hasn’t initiated the contact), she is played with when she chooses, if she whines and barks at food time she is fed, when they are out she will only come back when called when and if she chooses. A typical teenager, one might say! In order to help the morning problem, Tilly needs to start to realise that she’s not the main decision-maker in other areas either.
She needs to be offered plenty of attention and lovely stuff, perhaps even more than she has now – but when they choose and not when Tilly chooses! Our plan for the mornings is, for a start, to try setting the boiler for later. When they come down, to take no notice of her at all for a good ten minutes so their entry into the kitchen is no longer particularly lovely. They will feed her later and do other things first. In order to reinforce that feeding only happens if she has been quiet before they enter the room, they will try leaving the room for a minute or so before coming back in and feeding her.
She is wary of young children but, being so friendly with people and other dogs, that should be easily solvable, as should the mouthing and the recall.
So, today I had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful dog with some issues that could be worrying if they get worse, and they are wisely nipping them in the bud.
A week later: “Just wanted to give you a little update on Tilly. She barked at 6.30 BUT after a couple of barks stopped! started a little again at 7.00am then stopped and we went down when she wasnt barking at 7.15am progress!!”
01.03.2013
Barking, Barking for attention, Barking in the morning, Chocolate Labrador, Labrador, mouthing, recall, scared of children, won't come when called
They are expecting a baby in six weeks’ time, and have left it a little late to do something about little 8-month-old Twinkle. He flies all over the place and it is impossible to check him. He may grab hair and nip. They see him as exuberant and happy; I saw him as highly stressed and anxious, with too much stimulation of the wrong sort – exciting him and winding him up – and not enough constructive stimulation and doggy stuff. He has quickly learned to ‘sit’ and ‘stay’ for the lady. He is a clever little dog and she will enjoy teaching him new things – the right way.
Twinkle never goes for a walk. He is carried everywhere, so no doggy sniffs and no socialising of any sort. He is house trained in a way, but to do all his toileting indoors on newspaper (not something that would be happening if her were a Great Dane I’m sure) and this won’t be good when Baby is crawling about. When he is taken out, it’s in a carry bag.
I noticed how he merely tolerated being cuddled. The lady says he’s ‘had to learn to let me love him’. She felt it was important to make him accept it even though he doesn’t like it (which I’m not sure is my definition on love). As she held him up like a baby under his arms to kiss him, his little head was turning away from side to side and he was licking his lips – both strong signals that he was not happy with it.
Recently he nipped a child which isn’t a good omen. Unfortunately he was smacked – a very common human response when people don’t know what they should do and guaranteed to make things worse. It is very clear that he barked and warned them ‘I’m scared, I’m scared‘ and he was ignored. The child approached him with a treat and he nipped.
So, my ‘preparation for baby’ plan is first for Twinkle to be treated a bit more like a dog and not only given a few rules and less over-exciting play from the man, but also for his dog-language signals to be respected. Secondly, his world needs slowly opening up a bit. I suggested starting by standing in the garden for five minutes with him on lead to let him get used to it, and gradually increase the size of his world as he relaxes. Thirdly, Twinkle needs to get accustomed to the lady cuddling a baby and talking baby talk to it, so amongst other things I suggest a doll and screaming babies on YouTube! Finally, When Baby does come home Twinkle needs some sort of restraining and I feel a puppy pen would work best. There is no way realistically they will ever be able to teach him to stay on the floor and nor would they want to. Baby could even sometimes go in the pen instead! Twinkle needs to get used to being in it well in advance so it becomes his ‘safe den‘.
All in all they have some hard work to do and it’s fortunate the lady is on maternity leave. As soon as Baby arrives I shall call again, because we can only guess at how Twinkle will actually react when it happens.
19.02.2013
Chihuahua, baby, baby and dog, jumping all over people, toilet training
Cocker Spaniel Buddy wants attention all the time. When they take no notice of him he jumps the stair-gate, rushes upstairs and raids the bedrooms for something to parade. It always ends in a chase with Buddy hiding gleefully under the daughter’s bed, ‘Catch me if you can!‘
I asked the lady to shut the bedroom doors. As we sat talking, doing our best not to react to the jumping and barking, Buddy leapt over the gate and rushed upstairs. We took no notice! I then opened the gate and left it open. He ran up and down a couple of times before settling down on the floor near us. I expect he was figuring out what he could get up to next!
I went to see 9-month old Cocker Spaniel Buddy about six weeks ago, but the situation then was very different http://www.dogidog.co.uk/?p=10932 . He already had been trying the lady’s patience to the limit when she took on Golden Retriever Ollie. Buddy and Ollie exhausted each other, but the previous people changed their mind and wanted him back which was actually rather fortunate. The lady had hoped that another dog would calm Buddy down, but now she had double trouble.
I came up with a plan using a bit of reverse psychology. ‘Let’s shower him with things to do under our own terms and keep him busy‘. So I called him over which meant he had to get up. He ran over eagerly – it looks like something is going to happen! I quietly asked him to sit which he did instantly, and treated him. I experimented to see if he understood ‘Down’ when asked the once and gently. Yes. Treat. I then left him and went and sat back down again. Buddy settled once more.
I didn’t leave him for long. I repeated the process every five or ten minutes, adding variations to the ‘tricks’ and teaching him to roll over as well – a thing he does when he wants to be uncooperative so that now he’s doing it upon request instead. Again I let him rest and we continued talking. Next I called him and we did a couple of minutes of lead work around the room. Once more I went and sat down and Buddy settled. The lady can gradually add play and games and teach him all sorts of fun things. I feel certain that when he is almost overdosed with attention he will stop looking for it so desperately. He is a clever working dog and needs frequent sessions of activity.
If at those times when he is most demanding, two or three bouts of constructive attention is lavished on him but under their control – not petting but by getting him to work for it – Buddy will become a much happier and more fulfilled dog. Gradually the intervals between sessions can be lengthened and Buddy will learn to be patient and wait – knowing that his turn will come when the lady is ready – because it always does. He really does want to please given the chance. He will bond better with his humans and he should no longer feel the need to pester.
A couple of weeks have gone by and I have just received sort of email that makes me feel so happy:“….. its like having a different dog. The times he has got into the bedrooms he just steals a slipper or shoe and most of the time brings it to us. so we say thank you and he seems very pleased with himself 
. When we eat at dining table he doesnt jump up he just lays underneath until we finished …. Getting him to do things, sit and down is going well, rolling over is getting there……jumping all over us has stopped a lot. I know we have got a long way to go but im feeling so much more happier and i know buddy must be to as he now getting so much attention for being good. I have forwarded your website and contact number to everyone i know who owns a dog and has problems lol”.
And a couple of weeks after this: “Just a quick one but we have No howling or barking in mornings and now even get a lie in at weekends yipppeee”.
13.02.2013
Cocker Spaniel, Hyper, attention seeking
Henry is now a handsome five-month-old, and they have come a long way in some respects since I saw him at ten weeks, but in others there has been a lack of consistency and I was disappointed in the lack of progress with his main problem – the mouthing. When I arrived one family member was playing with his fist, encouraging Henry to use his mouth. The knock-on to this is that they can neither wipe his feet when he comes in from outside nor brush him without a fight as he tries to grab hands, towel and brush.
The other associated problem to do with lack of mouth control is when Henry takes a treat reward, he snatches and that is painful. I showed them how to get him to take food politely and briefly repeated the kind of ‘dance’ I did originally to teach him manners http://www.dogidog.co.uk/?p=10463. The mouthing issue may be taken more seriously this time, now that he’s growing rather big!
Walking isn’t being done according to the plan either. It’s a challenge when different people are involved who weren’t in it from the beginning. See Henry with his smart new harness in the photo? With a longish lead fastened to the hook on the front he can learn to walk nicely; currently the lead is being held short and tight, the lead is on his collar and Henry is being constantly pulled back. One person who walks him has been been used to old-fashioned ‘control’ methods rather than reward-based and may be a bit resistent to what I teach. I hope after my demonstration with Henry that he can see the difference.
I shall follow them up shortly to make sure all is going to plan. In everything consistency is key, and each family member needs to be following the plan so they all drink from the same water bowl so to speak.
09.02.2013
Airedale, Airedale puppy, Pulling on lead, harness with d-ring on chest, mouthing
They have had adorable nine-month-old Bichon Poodle cross Maisy for a couple of weeks now. I was called because there a few problems – nothing major – and they want to pre-empt things before they get worse.
One concern is that she pesters their other patient Bichon Frise, Candy, by jumping on her and annoying her until she gets cross. Another is that she runs off with the baby’s toys and wrecks them, she is reluctant to give things up, she jumps onto things and surfs the tables for crumbs and cups to lick and she won’t come to them when she’s called. All fairly usual stuff for a teenage dog!
However, the thing that upsets them most is the things she eats and worst of all is that she eats dog poo, both her own and Candy’s.
It seems that more than half of all dogs have eaten dog poo, called coprophagia, at some stage during their lives. The reasons may be varied, from lack of nutrition in the diet or hunger, so they are ‘topping up’ or ‘recycling’, to disease like pancreatitis which affects the absorption of nutrients, to learned or copied behaviour. Until he was twelve weeks old, one dog I know who did this was in a kennel in a breeder’s barn where his food was scattered on the floor amongst his mess and as he wasn’t ‘housetrained’ having never been in a house, so it wasn’t surprising. In the case of Maisy, I suspect it is ‘puppy see, puppy do’. If in their young lives their mother had the same habit, the puppies may have copied her.
The million dollar question though is what can you do about it. The most obvious thing, to yell and quickly pounce, is the worst thing. The dog will think ‘hey – you want it too? It’s valuable?‘ and will grab it before you can get to it! You make her furtive. Scolding will only mean you have a job for life (sorry). If she thinks she might get into trouble, a copraphagic dog can become very sneaky and will remember for later if there is some still out there that you have missed!
Some suggest adding pineapple or courgette in the dog’s food, but I have never found evidence that it makes any difference at all. It’s impossible if it involves other dogs also. There are two approaches that I believe will work with this particular little dog, but it means being vigilant. The first thing is to work on a really solid recall around the house and garden, so your dog comes running to you straight away for a reward. The reward needs to be worth the effort, so make it tasty and make it fun. You are in competition with something very attractive to the dog - poo!! Soon she will be running to you for a treat as soon as she or the other dog has finished.
The other plan works best with dogs who like to chase things. Have in you pocket some of those treats that look like little sausage rolls. As you call the dog, roll it in the opposite direction. This combines food with a game. She will run after the food and you can then pick up. Soon the toileting will be the trigger for him to look at you, waiting for the treat to roll. She is being conditioned to run away from poo.
This only works when you are about of course. The likelihood is, by removing the opportunity for long enough so she doesn’t continue to practise the habit – even if it means, when out, keeping the dog on a long line or even wearing a basket muzzle if off lead – and consistently keeping up the training process, that she will grow out of it.
To the dog it’s not revolting of course – it’s food.
08.02.2013
Bichon Frise, Bichon Poodle cross, Pica, coprophagia, eating poo
When I arrived the jumping up and mouthing with teeth was manic – Misty is already a big dog. She was incredibly persistent and it was quite painful!
8-month-old Labradoodle Misty came to them a couple of weeks ago. Not much about her previous life is known, but I would be willing to bet that she was either removed from mother and siblings at too young an age or was an only puppy. Her total lack of bite inhibition points to this. I would guess her first owners couldn’t cope with it because the one thing we do know is that she most of her life in a crate. 
Bit by bit and with the help of a lead and harness (it had to be a thin chain lead I carry with me because she would have been chewed through a normal lead immediately) she calmed down. I started working on showing her what behaviour would get my attention as opposed to that which wouldn’t.
I can guess that Misty has spent a puppyhood of being told off and scolded; nobody has shown her what she should be doing. Her default was to approach with mouth open and grab. All the time while she was being polite I fed her tiny bits of food. For now she can earn some of her daily food quota for good behaviour.
Misty is so gorgeous I have to show you three pictures. She eventually settled down with the Stagbar I carry – the sequence of picture shows her gradually relaxing!
In her eight months she has had very little time spent on her. The neglect is evident in her knotted coat as well as behaviour. She has now landed well on her feet with very understanding people who accept her as she is, have rearranged their house and garden accordingly and who are prepared to go the extra mile for her. Her new owners may be skipping ahead too fast, especially with the walking; the missing groundwork needs to be filled in first.
She is highly excitable when she sees people and especially other dogs. She’s clearly had little socialisation. Even her own image in a mirror causes her alarm. She literally helps herself to their food while they eat at the table. She so obviously has come from an impoverished environment.
Greatly in her favour is she has not an ounce of aggression. She is an affectionate teddy bear. I know that she will be very eager to please when she knows what it is people do want of her, not just what they don’t want of her.
07.02.2013
Biting, Jumping up, Labradoodle, bite inhibition, mouthing, nipping
Little fourteen-month-old Cockerpoo Izzy (on the left) knows if she barks for long enough she will eventually find her people’s breaking point and get the attention she wants, that if she scratches at the back door someone will open it immediately each time, if she jumps up at people it guarantees attention of some sort – every time. It’s important she stops jumping up, because the people have lots of children coming to their house.
She is a gorgeous little dog with a wonderful personality, and plenty of it! I have had special training in this line of behaviour from my own Cocker Spaniel, Pickle. No amount of book-learning or education can teach how to deal with this sort of thing as well as hands on experience with ones own dog. I call it ‘Pickling’ – constantly looking for something to do and noisily pestering to get what he wants – given a chance. One thing that is a complete waste of time is to get cross! Pickle has now mostly learnt that good behaviour along with plenty to keep him busy gets the best results, but it has been quite a learning curve for me and I appreciate how difficult it is getting other people on board so they don’t sabotage my efforts!
Here is Pickle on the right – limbering up!
Just like Pickle, Izzy is loving, soft and gentle – an absolute darling.
I put my experience to good use and soon had Izzy like putty in my hands! She was really focused on me. Never had they had such a calm and quiet evening. We showed her why it was far nicer to have her feet on the floor. It was like a little dance. She put her feet on me – I gently tipped her off and looked away – her feet went back on the floor – I tickled her chest gently. Clever little dog then worked it out that she still was rewarded for jumping up, but it was part of a chain – she still got her attention in the end so I didn’t reward her each time. Then I started to ignore her and wait for her to work it out and get down by herself. She sat down. BINGO. Soon you could see she was thinking about putting her feet up on me but not doing it, and sitting down instead! Food Reward!
Intermittently she went back to pestering to be let out, which we ignored. When she gave up I opened the door. As I suspected, she didn’t want to go outside – just someone to jump up at her bidding – especially when they are busy doing something else, like eating, talking, watching TV or on the phone. I know all the tricks – Pickle has taught me!
The most exasperating problem of all is that Izzy barks persistently until she gets what she wants, and although she didn’t do this when I was there directing operations, she has to learn that barking, also, doesn’t get results. Never. Dogs do what works, even if it only works sometimes. They may even have to walk out on her and shut the door when she starts. Barking that never gets results is a waste of time. The important flip-side to this is they must instigate attention and fun things more regularly themselves – when she’s quiet.
She needs lots of praise for doing the right things, but not so much that it fires her up again. A benefit that will filter down from her gentleman owner being less of a pushover at home is she will take more notice of him when they are out and he wants to call her back to him.
05.02.2013
Barking for attention, Cocker Spaniel, Cockerpoo, Jumping up, Pulling on lead, won't come when called
Today three of my five dogs were by mistake let out of their ‘daytime’ enclosure into the sitting room (with five lively dogs one needs some physical boundaries). To the right are the three offenders – the three youngest, German Shepherd Milly, Cocker Pickle (of course), and Labrador Zara. ‘Man’ had left the barrier open on his way through so it was time for a party.
I heard a lot of noise and shouting of GO BACK IN THERE and found three dogs chasing gleefully about, evading him, with the rug sliding about on the wooden floor.
Why do people make things so difficult? (Sorry, Man. Living with someone who thinks they know it all is enough to make you dig your heels in and do things your way).
I walked through the room cheerfully saying ‘Come With Me, Dogs‘. I walked into their enclosure followed by three willing dogs. They received a small treat each from my pocket – thank you for cooperating. Job done.
‘Come’ works so much better than ‘Go’. At night time, getting an unwilling dog to ‘go’ outside can be much harder than asking him to ‘come’ out with you. I prefer to call a dog to her crate or bed – COME TO YOUR BED (reward) works a lot better than GO TO YOUR BED as many people like to do – inviting defiance; likewise ‘COME away from the front door’ in preference to ‘GO away’.
It’s that old contest between the ‘dominance’ approach (‘they will do as they are told because I must show them who is boss’), and the positive reward-based approach where the dogs are treated with respect. The pay-off of the latter is that the dogs will then treat us with respect and want to please us.
It’s a no-brainer.
04.02.2013
Cocker Spaniel, Dominance, German Shepherd, Labrador, obedience
The three beautiful dogs gave me a polite greeting when I arrived and it would have been hard to guess there were any problems. Fourteen-year-old Border Collie Dizzy is no trouble at all, Yorkie Waffle, age 4, does more or less what he wants but that causes no problems really – but the one who is challenging is three-year-old Labrador Blake.
Despite training and tricks, Blake lacks self-control. He is becoming increasingly edgy with dogs when out and he pulls on the lead. When all three dogs arrive home and rush into the garden, Blake will persistently hump poor Dizzy (he’s castrated). He does this also after he’s been hosed down after a walk.
However, on the occasions when walks end on lead, the humping seldom happens. They hadn’t recognised the connection (it’s hard when you are living inside a situation to see it objectively). They thought for some reason Blake was being ‘dominant’. Charging back into the garden, off lead and without boundaries, Blake can’t cope with the whole uncontrolled thing so he takes it out on poor Dizzy – who sits down! The end of a walk is the culmination of too much excitement, pulling, freedom and worrying about other dogs, and he has a build-up ready to overflow.
A walk that ends with dogs in a very high state has probably been too stimulating. It’s certainly not done the job it was meant to do. You know when you have got it right because when the dog comes home he has a long drink and then lies down, satisfied. No humping, charging about or unwinding.
Blake is a lovely, biddable dog. Scolding him for humping only adds to his frustrations. Calling him away with encouragement and praise for disciplining himself along with something else to do to redirect his angst is the right way to go. There are a lot of behaviours he could be offering that are incompatible with humping. Lying on his bed with something special to chew is one of them. Meanwhile, he needs to be de-stressed in every way possible.
As with so many of the dogs I meet, walks need to be completely re-thought. It takes a different mind-set and a load of patience, that’s all. When asked what they do when their dog pulls, people usually say the do things like stopping, turning around, saying Sit or Heel, jerking the lead and so on. I ask “well – you have been doing this for three years, has it worked“? No.
So it’s obvious they need to do something completely different about walking Blake. Walks need to start off in a calm controlled fashion, and they need to end in a calm controlled fashion.
They are surrounded by fields and perfect dog walking countryside, but walks are no longer fun and the lady can’t walk all three together any more which is a shame.
A couple of weeks later I received this message: “I have been doing what you have suggested and the change in Blake has been dramatic. I take him on walks on his own and it is working brilliantly ….. He is really learning. Thank you again. I have also been playing with the dogs individually whilst the other is in the kitchen – no humping! Problem solved! I am really pleased with his performance in such a short time”.
03.02.2013
Black labrador, Labrador, Pulling on lead, dominant, humping, walk, walks
Zoli, the Hungarian Viszla puppy I first went to when he was ten weeks old, is now seven months! What a handsome boy! This is him at ten weeks old: http://www.dogidog.co.uk/?p=9375
His people have followed a lot of my advice and he is becoming a well-mannered dog with great progress in most respects. It is so much easier if you start off correctly, and he was certainly a handful at ten weeks!
There are two areas where he’s not doing so well. One is jumping up - but that is due to lack of consistency on behalf of the family. If it gets him a result just one time in ten, it’s worth doing! That’s why people play slot machines after all.
The other area is one where they have unfortunately abandoned my advice – walking. He is on a short lead and collar, very excited and pulling down the road, constantly being corrected or held beside them through their strength. All this teaches Zoli that pulling works – because he gets there in the end.
By now, if they had stuck to the plan and used the right equipment, he should be walking on a loose lead like there is no lead at all. People get confused between ‘heel’ walking and ‘loose lead’ walking. Apart from in the show ring and maybe busy streets, I myself can’t see any benefit at all in walking strictly to heel. The dog should walk near to the person because he wants to, not because he’s being forced to. It is all part of the bond of trust and respect that should be growing between them.
I demonstrated the method in the kitchen – admittedly there were none of the distractions of the outside world. He walked around with me like a lamb.
Walks need to start off right – calmly – with walking around house and garden and shouldn’t progress until the lead is loose. It really is a case of ‘a stitch in time saves nine’. They will need to abandon their current ideas about walks for a few days or even weeks, but the work is so well worth it in the end – a dog that doesn’t mug people or refuse to come back unless he feels like it. As adolescence takes hold – it won’t be going in the right direction unless his people take control of his freedom – and it’s granted in a controlled way rather encouraging him to freelance.
02.02.2013
Hungarian Viszla, Jumping up, Pulling on lead, Viszla, come when called, puppy
Today I visited eighteen month old German Shepherd Duke. He is a perfect example of how people unintentionally teach their dogs to do the very opposite of what they want.
When they first got him as a puppy he was fine with their cats. In fact he would sleep with one of them. However, as he got a bit older an maybe over-playful, his family became anxious. Their initial reaction involving scolding and panic would have started things on a downward spiral. The cats now stay well out of the way upstairs when Duke is about.
Gradually things have escalated to their current situation. As soon as he hears a cat jump off a bed upstairs or meow, Duke hurtles at the stair-gate, snarling and barking. If the cat is visible he is truly ferocious – they say like a totally different dog. They feel if he actually caught one of the cats he would kill it.
How did things come to this? I asked the four family members what each does when Duke charges at the stair-gate. All immediately shout at him and dive towards him. They may try to grab his collar, still shouting, and may wack him with a rolled-up newspaper - firing him up even further.
The other day Duke bit the teenage son who had the rolled newspaper in one hand and was trying to grab his collar with the other.
Let’s look at this through Duke’s eyes. Cats mean trouble – his humans have taught him this. As soon as he charges at the stair-gate, snarling, his humans join in - all making angry noises. They back him up. They behave aggressively towards him too.
While I was there we tried something different. A cat was moving about upstairs. I immediately dropped a tiny bit of food for Duke. Every time we heard a cat I fed him. It wasn’t long before one cat was halfway downstairs staring at Duke under the open side of the stairway. So we could all relax, I slipped a longish lead on him and, making sure it was loose, continued feeding him.
Soon the cat actually jumped down into the room, going under the coffee table beside us. Duke gave one alarm bark but that was all. He stared at the cat so I then decided he should do a bit more for the food – something to distract him that was incompatible with staring at the cat. It worked perfectly. We then called it a day and separated them. This was more than enough for one session.
The family could see how responsive Duke was to a gentle and calm approach. Nobody had taught him what he should do when worried about the cats. There are one or two simple things they can do to make things easier, like blocking the view of cats on the stairs.
If all the family can behave the same way with no more shouting, panic or rolled-up newspapers – showing Duke by their own behaviour that cats are cool, I’m sure they will be all live happily together, given time.
25.01.2013
GSD, German Shepherd, aggressive to cats, attack cats, chasing cats, snarling at cats
Jess is a beautiful six-month-old Border Collie living in an environment not ideally suited to a young dog, let alone a clever working dog.
She lives in a shared house with her owners – the man is home all day and with health problems – where one of the other lodgers stirs her up with excitement and fuss and where the other shouts at her because he doesn’t want her near him.
The couple’s only room is crowded with a lot of things lying about for a bored, attention junky puppy to run off with. Because of how this is handled, she is now becoming growly. When I was there she was flying all over the sofas and people until I put her on lead; she stands behind the seated gentleman and humps him. She just looks at him when he calls her and has growled and snapped when she doesn’t want to be touched.
The sort of tug-of-war they play will be teaching her to growl and hang onto things. I would say that although they have taken time to teach her training tricks and unquestionably have her best interests at heart, she is a very confused young dog, with little self-control and no boundaries that she understands. Unintentionally, Jess has been taught by her humans to guard her food, to steal things, to growl when they try to prise them off her, and to jump all over people.
A major problem with Jess’ environment is that there is nowhere to put her away so that they can have a break or so she can have short ‘time-out’ to calm down.
To help any dog there is more involved than behaviour work alone. The environment needs to be managed also, and in this case it’s going to be tricky.
I cannot imagine any of my dogs growling at me for any reason. They are by no means perfectly ‘trained’ but that’s not what I’m into, but if I call them they are eager to come. If they have something they will give it up immediately because I’m always fair and do an exchange. I fostered a dog with guarding problems and she was just the same with me. If I wanted to touch their food while they were eating I’m sure I could – but why would anyone want to do this? They love a fuss. I have primary control over these things and my dogs don’t; I don’t lavish them needlessly and I’m sensitive to my dogs’ own wishes and needs.
Jess’ owners are very committed to helping their lovely dog, so I hope they can work around their difficulties and Jess can grow up to be the wonderful-natured dog she is cut out to be.
Just had a message, one month later: “It as if we have a different dog thank you”.
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17.01.2013
Border Collie, Hyper, growling, growling around food, guarding, hyperactive
Just look at this for a face! Llasa Apso Charlie is eighteen months old and lives with a young couple who describe themselves as ‘virgin’ dog owners. They have read books and taken advice in their efforts to do their very best for Charlie and in respect of teaching many commands and tricks they have done brilliantly. He’s a clever little dog – and a bit of a monkey!
He has always been a somewhat nervous dog, but something really bad happened to him about six weeks ago, and since then he’s not been his old self at all. He went to the groomer just as he had many times before, but this time something was different. Perhaps something that happened before they got there that the people are not aware of had stressed him, perhaps he had reacted to another dog there or maybe there were just too many people and dogs in the place. Anyway, as far as I understand it, the moment the groomer tried to touch him he flipped. He went mental.
His owners can’t understand why they hadn’t immediately stopped and phoned them but instead carried on. It took two or three people to hold him down and ‘double-muzzle‘ him while they clipped him.
When the couple fetched him up he was like a different dog. He was terrified. At bed time he wouldn’t go in the kitchen nor near the crate which up till then he always slept in. He would run, cower and shake. He would no longer tolerate his harness being put on. He had suddenly turned and bitten the gentleman when he accidently knocked into him as he slept. Already a restless dog, he was now extra hyper - charging around the furniture which he had never done before.
I can only think, that to Charlie, what happened at the groomer’s had seemed like he’d been pinned down and physically ‘dominated’ and it so clearly demonstrates the possible fallout from sorts of training methods that use force. It also shows how long the effect of extreme stress can last for.
He needs to learn again to trust, and to appreciate being touched and handled – and not only when he himself chooses, which can only be done if it’s not pushed onto him. His lovely owners are very distressed and have understandably over-compensated. His recent phobia of having a harness on or anything else on his body needs to be addressed very slowly and sensitively.
With the techniques I have taught them, Charlie should gradually get his confidence back and put this unfortunate experience behind him.
Almost two months have gone by: “Things are going much better with Charlie, he even has moments of being a really well behaved lovely little dog!! I’ve noticed he is much happier to let me pet him (and pulls away much much less) and also comes to me and sits by me more often which is really nice…..He comes to us every time in the house now when we call him, and this is very useful if we see him heading for a potentially naughty situation. He generally seems much calmer and I often see him sitting nicely, either on his new bed in the living room, or when he is with me in one of the bedrooms. The hint about dropping a treat down for him when he is sitting nicely works really well and he is jumping up and stealing things much less now. On the occasion he manages to get something we ignore him completely and that works very well – I usually find it left somewhere where he has lost interest and abandoned it, so it’s much less stressful. I am up to step 5 of your walking plan, taking things very slowly……it just makes a change to get to go for a walk and also to practice recall, which again is working really well….walks are a lot more fun and enjoyable now, it’s nice.
We really appreciate your advice and support, and all the good tips which have worked so well. Life does feel more manageable with Charlie and he seems much calmer and less growling and reactive. Meeting and greeting is much calmer too, and there is less barking. He is also much better around the cats. ..There was a lot of information in your booklets and notes, and we are working through it – all the tips you have told us have worked really well. As I go through your notes I pick up on new things and try to work it into our everyday life, so it becomes a habit”.
15.01.2013
Biting, Llasa Apso, dog groomer, groomer, muzzled, pinning down
As a currency, attention and simple rewards are rendered valueless by too much – too much lavished attention on demand and constantly available food. Owners actually devalue their own worth and relevance by being constantly at the beck and call of their dog.
It’s nice if you can thank a willing dog for doing something for you, like coming in when called, with a small food reward that he appreciates. It’s nice if your dog values your touch, because it’s something that isn’t constantly available on demand nor forced onto him when he wants to sleep in peace. Anything in too much abundance loses value.
So it is with Cassie, a two-year-old Italian Spinone I visited yesterday. Because she is constantly touched, all her demands are immediately met and because she has food available all the time, the owners have no leverage. They have nothing that Cassie would want to work for as she gets it already for doing nothing. Cassie is basically a lovely natured dog who is playing the cards dealt to her by her humans. She won’t come when called, she won’t get into the car when asked. She growls if people approach her food and she is snarly and aggressive around bones. Quite understandably she believes resources belong to her. She also growls if somebody touches her when she’s lying on her bed.
Things are going in the wrong direction. The other day she actually bit the gentleman who, when she wouldn’t come in at night, went out and, shouting angrily, forcibly brought her in. As he is her servant, how dare he insist she does something! This has nothing to do with love, but with respect and relevance.
If Cassie now has to start working in order to earn being touched, her entire attitude to it will change. If she can’t be bothered to take just a couple of steps towards them when invited, then she shouldn’t be touched. This gives her the opportunity to say ‘no thanks’, whilst also telling her that when she does want fussing she will sometimes have to put in some effort . When she nudges for attention she should not always necessarily get it.
There is a happy balance! At the moment it is one-sided in favour of Cassie.
A dog living with rules, boundaries and respect for her humans who put in the effort to be consistent and relevant, is ultimately a happier animal.
13.01.2013
Biting, Italian Spinone, Possessive aggressive, aggressive around food, aggressive when touched in bed, growling, growling around food, guarding food, possessive
We need a plan for integrating Border Terrier Ollie happily back into a new family life which now includes a baby who cries, grunts, smells interesting, that is carried and who is cuddled and kissed – like Ollie himself used to be.
I originally visited Ollie over four years ago, long before I started my ‘stories’ on this website.
His young lady owner was in hospital for a few weeks with her baby and her parents had been looking after Ollie. A couple of days ago he was dropped back home.
Ollie was very uneasy, especially when the baby cried or was cuddled and they feared Ollie might jump on him or nip him. Their anxiety will have been picked up by Ollie, only increasing his stress. So, the parents had taken him back home with them again. They realised they needed help.
Ollie must get used to the baby and the baby must be kept safe.
Yesterday, in advance of my visit, he was brought back again. When I arrived baby was asleep in his pram and Ollie was quietly behind the kitchen gate which led off the sitting room. All was peaceful.
I brought Ollie into the room on a longish lead, keeping it as loose as possible.Each time he looked in the direction of the pram, I treated him. The lady then lifted her baby out and sat down with him – and treats for Ollie. Each time the baby stirred or Ollie looked at him, the lady gave Ollie a treat. Ollie’s lead stopped just short of allowing him to reach baby. Everyone could relax.
We hooked the lead over something so that no emotions could be transmitted down it – and then baby started to cry. Ollie didn’t like this at all and gave some loud ‘yips’, lunging in the direction of the baby. As the lead was only attached to a thin collar, this unfortunately will have been very uncomfortable to his neck.
Before they can go further they need a harness so that Ollie never associates baby with any discomfort. Only nice things must happen for Ollie around the baby. He was reasonably relaxed so long as baby wasn’t crying. I gave him a Stagbar to chew whilst the baby was awake but not crying and he chewed it fervently like he was shutting out baby noises – see the picture! Our strategy is to walk him back to the kitchen if something obviously bothers him like when baby cries, and to work slowly. No scolding. Encouragement only. It was quite clear when he was worried as he would lift a paw and lick his lips, so they need to watch for these signs.
The couple were very surprised at the progress we had made in such a short time. Fortunately the parents live nearby and can take him back home so that he can be exposed for an hour or so at a time while the hustband is at home also, until a crying baby is just a normal part of his life – something to be ignored.
Ollie was himself, until recently, their baby!
10.01.2013
Border Terrier, baby, baby and dog, introducing dog to new baby
5-year-old Bull Mastiff Millie is always shut away when people come to the house due to her seemingly aggressive reaction to them, so they were worried before I came. This is Catch 22 because without exposure and habituation in a controlled way she will never get used to people. Always shutting her away will get them nowhere.
Anyway, within a very short time I took the photo on the left! It proves what can be done if all the humans send out the right signals. On the right the big baby is on the sofa having a cuddle.
Millie is too scared to go for walks near home. When her lead comes out she may run and hide. She shakes.
If she is told ‘To the Car’ she will pull frantically to get there, but once in the car she is fine; walking further from home is okay apart from a tendency to rush barking at people and other dogs when she’s off lead. She is regularly walked around town, unfazed, and into shops. She also goes on organised big group dogs walks and behaves perfectly. It is when they are near her own territory or in her house, when there are only occasional people or dogs, or when they appear suddenly that she reacts defensively by rushing them and barking.
Where lead walks near home are concerned, she first needs desensitising even to her lead bing picked up – and I suggest a special front-D-ring harness rather than a Halti so that she’s more comfortable. This needs working on in tiny steps. First she needs to feel happy in the presence of the lead or trailing it around the house. Next walking around the house on lead. Next the garden. Next in and out of the gate – and so on. Done several times a day a few minutes at a time, using encouragement and rewards, she should soon be walking around outside the house on a loose lead.
Millie has the makings of a really brilliant dog if understood right.
09.01.2013
Barking at visitors, Bull Mastiff, Scared on walks, aggressive to people, scared of people
Little Willow is four years old, and has been in her new home for seven months. She is exceptionally small for a Border Terrier. Just imagine seeing this tiny dog out on a walk, pulling on a short lead, being constantly corrected, and wearing a muzzle along with an electric collar. This isn’t because her owners don’t love her – it’s because they are doing the best they know how and are at their wit’s end over her aggression towards other dogs.
At home Willow is angelic – but a bit too quiet in my mind. She seems subdued and with little enthusiasm. It’s like she’s being careful. She constantly lifts her paws and licks her lips.
It is unusual that I feel owners of small dogs in particular are overdoing ‘leadership’, but I feel that in doing their very best with Willow they are using a sledge-hammer to crack a nut. They are avid followers of a certain TV dog gentleman. People think that because he’s on TV and charismatic, what he says must be right. It’s all about dominance and who is ‘boss’, not about reward and encouragement. They have been told to rebuff all friendly approaches by her. Whilst it’s not good to always obey a dog’s every wish for attention, there is a happy balance. These old-fashioned notions were reinforced at dog training classes they attended where Willow would bark at other dogs, obviously extremely stressed, and when spraying water at her didn’t work they were told to pin her down. Why didn’t a so-called ‘dog-training professional’ try to understand why Willow was behaving in this manner instead of using force? Fortunately the owners have been uneasy with this and, seeing Willow getting worse rather than better, realise that their tactics are simply not working.
The problem is that when our dog’s behaviour really annoys or bothers us, our own behaviour is suspect. We do whatever works most quickly and gives the best immediate result. The more exasperating the dog’s behaviour, the more concerned we become. Hence shock collars, citronella collars, pinning down etc. Unfortunately these things don’t work well in the long run. The best long-term results come from strategies that work slowly, requiring patience and encouragement. The ‘fallout’ from bullying methods is well documented. Whenever the dog becomes acclimatised to a certain level it has to be increased in order to keep working. The dog probably doesn’t really understand where the punishment comes from or why. Where does it lead? Some dogs end up by shutting down completely. Others may even turn on the source of their suffering.
Fortunately Willow’s owners had already begun to ‘see the light’ which is why they called me.
Email a week or so later: “Good to see Willow appearing more relaxed and definitely more playful within a week of starting this plan”. Six weeks in: I visited little Border Terrier Willow again today. The best news is she is that with encouragement and rewards she is a lot more trusting and cheerful at home. Progressing into the outside world is slow, but the young couple are working very hard and she now walks beautifully on a loose lead in the garden and around the garage area. Beyond there she still has a meltdown at any noise or person, let alone a dog. We have a plan to desensitise her a bit faster, and that is to have sessions that aren’t walks at all – for them to pick her up and carry her around their quiet housing estate (carrying a dog is something I have never advised before). Willow can then get a bit more used to sounds like doors closing and distant dogs barking, and to cars and people – but held safely in their arms and maybe even inside their jacket also. She still just feels far too vulnerable on the end of a lead. It’s Catch 22, if she isn’t exposed to things she never will get used to them, but when she is exposed to them it sets he back because she panics. Here is a short video I took of Willow being taught to walk nicely on lead, and every time she is alarmed by something the gentleman takes control and leads her away from it and encourages her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI6Ihf62x6I
05.01.2013
Border Terrier, Pulling on lead, aggressive to dogs on walks, attacking other dogs, electric collar, muzzled
Little Buddy is a fifteen-month-old ball of fluff – it’s hard to find his face when he’s lying asleep! He is a mischevous little chap and likes especially to run rings around his gentleman owner who is something of a soft touch.
Buddy is also a happy little dog – so long as he’s not left alone. His greatest attachment is to his lady owner and he likes to know where she is at all times. It is so bad that when they shut the dog gate at the kitchen door before going out, he is attacking their ankles quite ferociously, doing all he can to stop them going. He barks and cries constantly when they are out, and this has resulted in complaints from the neighbour.
The lady feels tied to the house; she can’t even go out for coffee with a friend. She works part time so they have had an au pair for the daughter (and dog!), but this will soon end.
My own dogs are not involved with my comings and goings. They will be pleased to see me when I get home, but not beside themselves with relief. They are secure and confident that I will come back eventually and that it’s no big deal when I leave. They do have each other, of course. Buddy however is with someone 24/7, and he sleeps in their bedroom.
The first step is to get him used to staying alone behind the gate in the large kitchen so that the only time he’s shut in the kitchen isn’t when they go out. He will then be used to losing sight of the lady whilst knowing she is still in the house. To help to get him secure in his own company, in this circumstance I feel they should slowly wean him away from their bedroom at night, out onto the landing, and eventually leave him in the kitchen. If he can happily stay all night away from them in the kitchen, that would be great progress towards staying happily for a couple of hours during the day in the kitchen when they are all out.
They need to plant a lot of ‘red herrings‘! Picking up keys and going nowhere. Putting shoes on and going nowhere. Walking around with handbag and going nowhere. Going out one door and coming in another, gradually increasing time spent outside the house. When they go out for real they should be ready in advance – then just go!
Little Buddy has control of a lot of things in his life – when he eats his food, where he sleeps, when he gets attention, when he plays, when he goes outside and when he agrees to come back in! But he hasn’t got control of comings and goings. As trusted ‘leaders/dog parents’, his humans should be able to come and go as they like – they are not accountable to Buddy.
They will need to take things very slowly, but ultimately this should be a big relief to Buddy.
01.01.2013
Cockerpoo, Separation Anxiety, Separation Anxiety
Six-month-old Cocker Spaniel Buddy’s problem was unruliness, flying about and grabbing clothes - pulling on lead and generally lacking control.
I went to see them yesterday because the lady has just taken on Ollie, a beautiful Golden Retriever ‘free to a good home’ whose family were out at work all day. He is three years old.
She has had him for just two days and the relationship between the two entire male dogs is one of continually jockeying for position. The chasing around isn’t ‘play’. There is no play bowing, play chasing or rolling about – it is non-stop humping until both are exhausted! Although young Buddy does his best to get his own back, Ollie, being the bigger and more determined dog, is in constant pursuit. Buddy gets cornered in the garden and I can see trouble brewing as he either becomes intimidated or even becomes angry which would be totally against his nature usually.
While Ollie settles in the dogs’ time together must be supervised. They will need to go out into the garden separately for a while. As soon as any humping starts, one or other (taking it in turns) needs to be quietly removed and put behind a gate or in the crate with something else to do. It’s not punishment.
Meanwhile there need to be some consistent rules and boundaries introduced because two dogs can be a very different matter from one dog. Instead of just one dog to interact and cope with, there are two, and in addition there is the interaction between the two dogs. I have five dogs and it multiplies up! Ollie has been well-trained and they don’t want to lose that, or for him to begin copying Buddy’s hyper lack of self-control.
I am not a big believer in castration to resolve behaviour problems, but in this case, with so much testosterone flying about, if things don’t calm down quickly this may be the logical step to take.
30.12.2012
Cocker Spaniel, Golden retriever, castration, humping
If the humans a dog lives with are not calm, stable and predictable, how can their dog be these things? If they are erratic then one might expect their dog to be the same.
The situation Lily has lived in for the first four years of her life has not been happy for her young lady owner, nor really for Lily either. She has now moved back home to her family and after just four months Lily is happier too. During this time they have had two different trainers to advise them. The trainers had totally opposing methods, one believing in punishment and dominance and the other reward-based more like myself.
There is currently a muddling mix of input for Lily.
The problem that has most impact on the family is her excessive barking at people who come to the house. I had asked them to ignore her so I could see what she did. It went on and on and on! I tried various things. Then the young lady showed me what she normally did and the picture started to become clear. She had been taught a routine to get Lily to settle, involving a mix of actions, tricks and rewards until she lies down and is quiet. She doesn’t stay down, though, so she gets scolded and NO until the routine is started over again in order to make her quiet again.
I found Lily’s barking different from most dogs that do this. Although it was doubtless fear-based to some extent, she wasn’t that fearful. We tried various things until I worked it out that the dog was actually barking for the attention she gets in terms of the routine of attention, commands and rewards! Inderectly she is being taught to bark.
It is always a good idea to give a dog an alternative behaviour that is incompatible with the behaviour you want to eradicate, but in this case the alternative behaviour itself has gradually become the reinforcer! The alternative needs to end up being something the dog will do if her own accord and not dependent upon all that owner input – to lie down quietly.
They have tried everything they can think of – except recognising the things that are really reinforcing the barking – and removing them. It’s also essential that Lily has confidence and respect in her humans in terms of leadership – which is not earned by a confusing mix of fussing her, excited play with harsh commands and negatives like LEAVE and NO.
Now they at least have a tool for stopping the barking, so it can be a starting point to build upon. They need to move forward. We have a new plan, taking it one small increment at a time - gradually cutting down the ‘routine’ until she can simply be left to settle without commands, reinforcing only quiet behaviour until she learns what is required and finds that rewarding.
Like all dogs that are reactive to people coming into the house, they need to have plenty of visitors to practise on!
About six weeks have gone by and this is the latest input from Layla’s young lady owner: She’s made really good progress with visitors. She no longer needs the full ‘tricks’ routine. I just say ‘down’ followed by ‘settle’ and she remains quite calm for the rest of the time…..so I’m very happy about that. Walks are going well, she now also sits down calmly when I pick up the lead to go on a walk. We’re also working on exchanging sticks/balls for treats, which is going well, she’s happier to ‘give’ now and less possessive. She also had a very polite nose touch with another dog that appeared which was lovely to see and then she simply followed me. And again many thanks for all your help, I’m really happy with how Lily has been doing.
This is the message I received exactly four monthy after my visit, and shows just what can be done with time and patience when the owners really apply themselves: “Everything is going well here, we’ve been going on weekly walks with other dogs and Layla is really enjoying socialising with them. House visits are constantly improving, I had a visitor come (that Layla had never met) on Tuesday and she let herself me stroked and cuddlled, which was amazing”!
17.12.2012
Barking at people, Barking at visitors, GSD, German Shepherd
It’s not surprising that a Border Collie who has spent the first year of his life on a remote farm in Ireland is terrified of traffic and wants to round people up like they are sheep. Cabra is one such dog, now aged about two and a half. A few days ago I went to Lottie, another Collie with similar issues. It’s probable, because Cabra has knee problems already, that he was worked from too young an age and then dumped when no longer useful.
What a beautiful looking dog!
The home situation is tricky because he lives with a lady and her very elderly parents, both with mobility problems. Each time the old gentleman gets up and slowly walks towards the door, Cabra circles him and when he’s through the door and no longer in sight, charges from room to room, barking quite ferociously. Cabra has run of the house and circles the man on the stairs too. It’s dangerous – it’s only a matter of time before he causes the man fall.
Cabra is wary of all people except his family and their carer, but he is worst when they leave, with his frantic ’rounding up’ and distress at the door.
The first priority is to manage the situation so that Cabra is out of the way when the gentleman is moving about. He should no longer have free run of the house to come and go as he likes – it’s only his humans who should be able to do that.
Psychologically what needs to be worked on is Cabra’s acceptance that people moving about are not his responsibility, and he needs to learn other behaviours instead that are incompatible with herding. Once he has started into the behaviour he is deaf to instruction, so forward planning is necessary.
Cabra is absolutely terrified on walks, terrified of nearly everything including traffic and other dogs, but this is another tricky aspect as the parent’s carer is having to walk him and hasn’t the time to work on this – and it’s not her job.
They have had him for about a year and he has gained some confidence, but here is a lot of work to do, and the degree to which he improves will depend upon how much the people are able to do, both physically and time-wise. Slowly he should become less fearful and be able to calmly to accept people leaving.
14.12.2012
Border Collie, Rounding up, aggressive when people leave, herding
Mother dog Ella probably thinks ‘what have I done‘ – and possibly so do her owners! Here she is, in her favourite spot on the stairs, her sanctuary.
Ella lives with eight-year-old Black Labrador Kizzy, and niether of them are too impressed with the three eleven-week-old puppies, who, when not penned, are doing what puppies do multiplied by three. Kizzy is more stoic; Ella seems slightly scared – afraid of doing something wrong and so she keeps out of their way. She is currently somewhat withdrawn, only coming alive when out on walks - away from the pups.
This is going to be an ongoing job for me – and a very enjoyable one. I myself have five dogs but have only integrated new puppies one at a time. I am very aware of how, the more dogs you have, the tighter boundaries and manners need to be, and how too much excitement can redirect into trouble between the dogs.
The couple are beginning to realise the challenge they have taken on – they were going to keep two puppies but the third has a deformed leg so they are keeping her as well. They want to pre-empt as many problems as possible and have my ongoing support. Our initial plan is very mindful of not only what puppies of this age need, but also looking ahead. There are lots of questions with the future in mind. What should the physical boundaries be? One can imagine three puppies persuing two older dogs around the house and flying all over the chairs if not restricted! Where will they all eat and how will it be handled? Where will they all sleep when bigger? What will happen when someone comes to the door? How will they cope with walks? How to get each puppy used to being separated from the others without those left behind creating! How to know the right moment to intervene when play gets out of hand. How to keep some continuity for the two big dogs whilst also integrating the puppies.
It is one thing integrating one puppy into a ‘pack’ at a time – but quite a different matter three puppies! Whilst we are pre-empting as much as possible, there are sure to be a lot of unforseen things to field as they crop up!
What fun!!
I know just how exasperating one puppy can be sometimes, so they will need a huge amount of patience.
11.12.2012
Labrador
Little Lottie is a sweetie. She is a very small Border Collie mix, eighteen months of age. She lives with a couple and their two teenage sons.
Lottie is a stressy little dog, highly reactive to things and easily scared. She is also a brave little dog, constantly facing things that terrify her. She is scared of traffic even if it’s at a distance. She runs away from her lead before leaving the house – because she knows she will have to walk along a road.
Her life is confusing. She is taken to training classes of the old-school ‘domination’ type and her male owner wants a ‘controlled’ dog. There are quite a lot of commands and demands made upon her, whilst also overwhelming (to her), excitable type of hands-on play and affection.
The problem I was called out for is that she fixates and paces around the boys when they are moving about – almost rounding them up. Their response is to be angry, shout at her or order her into her crate. She is a dog that would respond to a whisper, so everything is ‘too much’.
I believe this is not an issue to attack head on, as it is a symptom of other things. She needs less stress and she needs to feel protected. She needs leadership of a type she recognises – calm, quiet and consistent. A leader she can trust not to lead her near ‘danger’. Twice a day she has to face the terror of traffic. I hope they will be able to avoid this altogether for a little while and then slowly work on the problem around her comfort threshold, gradually getting nearer to traffic. It could take a long time.
The rounding up problem, strangely, only happens when the lady is about, but we have a plan!
This little dog is highly intelligent and I feel she needs stimulation of the sort that doesn’t over-excite or put too many demands upon her. Teaching her to use her brain with a clicker will be a good substitute for some of the stuff she is currently getting. Clicker is an art in itself and the timing has to be right.
They want to do what is best for their delightful little dog. I hope they will ease back on the pressure of ‘training’ and ‘discipline’ and let Lottie work things out for herself.
09.12.2012
Border Collie, Rounding up, fear of traffic, fixating
Three year old Black Labrador Alfie is in nearly every respect a good natured and biddable dog. However, in one respect, his behaviour has been worsening over the past year or so. They can’t pinpoint when it started.
He behaves aggressively around his food and they are no longer able to give him bones or chews.
All the time he’s eating he is growling and snarling, and he’s gulping like he’s expecting his bowl to be removed at any moment. This has never happened, and I’m assured his food has never been interfered with while he’s eating. They certainly wouldn’t dare go near now!
The very first time he did it his humans’ response will have, unintentionally, made it worse. If they had known how to react back then, the behaviour would never have developed, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
In response to the growling, instead of feeding him by himself in the utility room as they used to, they have moved his bowl into the kitchen, near to where they may be moving about. Before the bowl is put down, Alfie is sent the other side of the room and told to sit and wait. The bowl goes down. He still must sit and wait until the man walks away from the bowl and says he can GO. Alfie will then charge to his bowl, growling ferociously and gobble up his food, snarling all the time. It seemed to me that he feels he’s waiting on a starting block, and there may be a race as to who gets the food first once the starter pistol goes off.
Where is the logic, in a dog’s mind, to being told to sit, wait, and so on before being allowed to eat his food once it’s been put down? Humans do it as a sort of ritual. I prefer to do things in such a way that they have some meaning to the dog. I prefer for the dog to be calm before the food goes down, and to work it out for himself without commands.
While I was there it was Alfie’s dinner time, and we tried something different. The bowl was put down in the large kitchen, but well away from us all. Alfie was ignored – there was no telling him to go away, to sit or to wait. I suggested the man stood and held the bowl for a few seconds before putting it down. Alfie was standing quietly and politely beside him. I wanted Alfie to realise that the food, before it was down, belonged to the man – but once down it was all his. I wanted him to use his brains.
The food went down, Alfie moved straight in, the man came away and sat down with us and we ignored Alfie. There was one initial very short growl, out of habit, but that was all! He didn’t even bolt his food.
The food itself needs to be changed to something better. We will be following up with further strategies until Alfie is relaxed while people are moving around near him while he eats.
A couple of weeks later, “The thing we are most pleased about is that he no longer barks and growls at feeding time….He’s also a lot calmer and in the evenings just sits peacefully on his mat. We’re very pleased with the progress we’ve made in a very short time since you visited us”.
08.12.2012
Black labrador, Labrador, aggressive around food, growling, growling around food
Sometimes there has to be a trade-off between what people want of their dog and what they are prepared to do to get it!
6-month-old Bassett/Welsh Foxhound Merlin is hilarious. What a face! He has a wonderful personality – he’s affectionate, friendly, playful…….and deliberately ‘naughty’!
His ‘crimes’ are stealing things, especially his owners tools including even an electric drill, and hoarding them in the garden. He jumps up at the sides to take anything he can find. He jumps up at people.
He would do none of these things if they weren’t rewarding in some way. I noticed that whenever he jumped up at the sides, people were slow in calling him down and not on the look-out, so from Merlin’s point of view there’s no consistent rule. When he is caught, loud DOWN and crossness is quite high-value attention for a tough dog!
He jumps up at people because it always gets a big result. He needs attention only when his feet are on the floor, but everyone has to do this. Unfortunately, the dogs are out in the garden much of the time and people who call are jumped on as they get out of their cars. The owners have a choice. They keep the dogs in unless supervised (which they don’t want to do) or they put up with the jumping up at callers. Something has to give. They want their dogs to run free on their land, so it’s their choice.
Stealing things is such fun! Being chased by an irate man who actually loves him dearly is a great game. He shows no aggression or possessiveness, and the tools can always be found in the usual place outside. The price to pay for now and until Merlin gets beyond his teenage stage is to keep things out of his reach and restrict free access to the garden – as one would with a toddler. Again, the people have a choice. Merlin is always ready for the main chance and misses little!
Their current ways of trying to teach him involve punishment, sometimes physical, or scolding. He must see little point in not jumping up because feet on the ground isn’t rewarding, and coming away from the sides in the kitchen isn’t rewarding. Resisting the temptation to nick something isn’t rewarding – but to Merlin running off with it is! It enfuriates them.
Seeing him lying on his back on the sofa is a picture. He really is the softest and silliest dog. I loved him. To the extent that his owners are prepared to change what they do, they will be able to change what Merlin does.
07.12.2012
Basset Fox Terrier, Jumping up, Jumping up at the sides, Stealing things
Here is fifteen-week-old Miniature Schnauzer Herbie, in his bed surrounded by toys!
What a little character!
His lady is a first-time dog owner and over some things she is being very sensible and over other things she has picked up mis-information. For instance, she is running him with other dogs for an hour a day when at four months old Herbie’s limbs are not up to this, and she may scold him for toileting indoors – both of which I believe to be wrong. She wants to do her very best so that Herbie grows into a stable and happy companion.
Puppies can be exasperating – especially when they are grabbing clothes, biting feet or latching onto jewellery! People can feel helpless because repeated use of the word ‘no’ only makes matters worse, and they don’t know how to stop their little terror from doing these things.
Herbie was a ‘solo’ puppy – he had no brothers or sisters on whom to learn bite-inhibition, so ideally his early humans should have been filling this role. It’s all very well to be cross with a puppy (and those little teeth both hurt and can do quite a lot of damage to clothes), but this doesn’t teach the youngster what he should be doing, especially when his antics are getting him so much attention.
Already Herbie is on sentry duty, barking at passing children and dogs from the large upstairs window, and at people coming into the house. He can be intimidated by people approaching him too directly and by being loomed over, and he may leap up and snap at a hand that is held out over him.
We have worked on basic ‘dog-parenting’ rules and strategies, on removing temptation for now so that it’s not such hard work (why set him up to fail) – not wearing flowing clothes, boots with dangly zips, hanging neck chains and so on. A gate to pop him behind while he calms down will work wonders when he is being challenging.
Jumping up on people, flying all over furniture, barking at people walking towards him and so on are perhaps cute in a fifteen week old puppy but not so good in an adult dog, so the basics in rules and boundaries, taught by using positive reinforcement for the desired behaviour, need to be set in place immediately.
I shall be helping this lady and her lovely puppy for months to come, through the various stages of his growth.
06.12.2012
Miniature Schnauzer, grabbing clothes, miniature schnauzer puppy, nipping, puppy
Fourteen-month-old Jack is a good natured, affectionate and very energetic young Cocker Spaniel (and I know what that’s like with my own Working Cocker, Pickle!). However Jack does have a problem and it is getting worse. He steals things and runs off with them, then hides under the kitchen table guarding them and growling. He will do the same with bones and toys. He may growl if someone simply walks past when he is possessing something.
Without realising it, the owners have unintentionally encouraged this. In addition to giving Jack a great deal of attention for it, the gentleman held the view that if he was going to be the ‘Alpha male’ then Jack had to give up the item. Consequently, he will corner him under the table and forcibly open Jack’s mouth to remove the object. All the time Jack is growling.
A dog can’t talk, so he growls. The danger is that if the growling is ignored Jack will soon feel it’s pointless giving this warning and move on to the next step – which is to snap. He has already done this to a lady who wanted to touch him when he was tied up outside a shop. In general, when Jack is approached and loomed over he will go over onto his back, an indication that he finds it a little threatening - as do many dogs.
When I was there Jack was given a new chew toy. The gentleman found it very hard to totally ignore Jack as he paraded it about! Jack’s antics have no power if the humans refuse to play his game - and ignore the whole thing.
Meanwhile, work needs to be done on getting Jack to willingly exchange things. They should never be simply wrenched off him. If the item’s not important, then they should deny him any pleasure in the form of attention and totally ignore it – maybe even walking out of the room. I suggest for now his guarding spot under the kitchen table is blocked, and that all his toys are lifted. They can be issued to him one at a time – and used for a ‘Give’ game before finally being handed over to him. He has already been trained, as a gun dog, to ‘Give’ the dummy, so this shouldn’t be too hard.
The regular gun dog training Jack has had isn’t sufficiently reward-based for my liking. He is being told ‘No’ without being shown they do want from him. It’s much fairer if he can be called away from things and rewarded or given alternative behaviours that are incompatible with what he is doing. He quite vigorously humped me when I arrived (not helped perhaps by my own dog Zara currently being in season), but being told No and Down and being dragged off only prolongs the situation. If he is given an alternative like ‘Sit’, he can’t hump and sit at the same time!
He’s a cracking dog and with consistent rules and boundaries, with his humans ditching ‘dominance’ techniques and using a bit of psychology, with less use of the word ‘No’ and more rewarding in terms of attention for the desired behaviour, I feel sure Jack will mature into a trustworthy and well-mannered adult.
05.12.2012
Cocker Spaniel, Possessive aggressive, Stealing things, dominance techniques, growling, possessive
Floyd used to have such enthusiasm for life, but this has slowly changed over the past few months.
He also started to toilet in the house and it’s gradually becoming more frequent, particular when his owners have come home from another trip. Something seems to have traumatised him and a bit of detective work may have unearthed what that is.
The couple have had the eight-year-old Jack Russell cross (there must be Daschund or Beagle in there somewhere!) since he was a puppy, and he has always gone everywhere with them. They have geared holidays around places where he can be taken. This year they have been away four times. They leave him at home with their son and daughter (aged 22 and 18) so you would think that would be no problem. A couple of months ago immediately before they left him behind, the gentleman took him for his usual walk. He rounded a corner ahead of the man (something I advise shouldn’t happen) and was attacked by another dog. Then, as soon as they got home, the couple left him. The suitcases were in the hallway and they were ready to go.
Each time they have returned from being away they have found him increasingly nervous and skittish, and the toileting has increased. When they come home from work he no longer greets them but stays in his bed. Even a pending walk is no longer anything special. He regularly displays signs that he is trying to keep calm – he lifts his paw a lot, he licks his lips and he yawns.
The dear little dog has always been the easiest dog you could wish for with a wonderful temperament, so they have got away with more than they might otherwise in terms of running around after his every wish and over-exciting him. The gentleman in particular jumps to his every wish. Floyd only has to bark and the man is on his hands and knees! The son winds him up with rough play until he can hardly cope. The lady is firmer. Floyd lacks the security that comes from consistent rules and boundaries.
We owe it to our dogs to provide them with ‘leadership’ in terms of guidance and decision-making.
All his family want is for him to be back to his old self, and they are willing to do whatever it takes. They have had him thoroughly checked over by the vet, because in cases where a dog’s behaviour changes a physical reason must be ruled out.
03.12.2012
Jack Russel x, Toiletting indoors, calming signals, depressed
They have had Jack Russel X Alfie for a week now and he’s still only seven weeks old. He should not yet have left his litter mates. Consequently, he’s not had a chance to learn stuff he should be learning from other dogs, especially regarding the use of his sharp little teeth!
When people have not not had a puppy before, how can they know who to listen to and what information is correct? The breeder said feed him chocolate and whenever he poos indoors to rub his nose in it. The pet shop said pick him up by the scruff of his neck. Someone else said don’t shut him in his crate. Unbelievable. TV programmes and internet all give conflicting advice.
Today I worked on a ‘starter’ puppy plan with the lady and her eight-year-old daughter – a very switched on and willing little girl where their animals are concerned. They have two rabbits and a guinea pig running free in the garden along with two cats, all of which Alfie must learn to get along with. I found a small rabbit harness in my bag of bits that fitted him so that we had something to attach a lead to without causing him discomfort, and so he can happily get used to the other animals in safety. The family must now provide Alfie with what he should be learning from his ‘dog’ family – behaving a bit as other puppies would when he nips or grabs and won’t let go. In this way he will understand what is required of him.
I shall be visiting again in about three weeks because he will then be old enough to learn a few basics like how to walk nicely beside them – off lead initially, and to get used to a lead.
A tiny puppy can change a lot it three weeks!
30.11.2012
Jack Russell, grabbing clothes, nipping, puppies, puppy
Oh joy! Today I met Henry. Henry is a ten-week-old Airedale puppy and he’s going to grow BIG.
I was called because the couple couldn’t stop him mouthing and nipping them and because they want to make sure they start of right. I expected jumping up when I arrived, but he was really quite calm for a puppy. In the two weeks since they have had him they have worked hard and he has learnt a lot.
It soon became apparent that, like most people I go to with puppies, they aren’t communicating with him efficiently – in a way that he easily understands. There is an automatic assumptions that dogs understand English! Another automatic assumption is that to train a dog not to do something it should be scolded with ‘no‘.
Both are wrong. Actions speak a lot louder than words and the best way to stop a puppy doing something you don’t want is to get it to come away and do something else instead. People also underestimate a puppy’s need to chew - to help teething, exercise his jaw and to release endomoprhins to calm himself down, so he needs a good supply of alternatives that are more attractive than the corner of the coffee table.
All the time while Henry was awake during the three hours I was there – and he had three naps – it was like a dance while I showed him by my own reactions what I would like him to do and what I would like him not to do. He was very attentive and obviously enjoyed it. He used his mouth – I withdrew my attention. He used teeth, I squealed softly and withdrew my attention. He sat calmly on the floor, I gave him attention. He put his feet up on me, I gently tipped him off whilst looking away. His feet back on the floor, I gave him attention. He started to chew the table, I clapped my hands gently or said ‘uh-uh’ and then gave him something he could chew. I called him and he came running. All the time that I was talking with his owners, this dance went on. Soon he was walking beside me around the room with no lead, and then on a long loose lead.
I use only positive reinforcement - rewards – attention and food.
They have already taught him several commands and he’s a quick learner, but they now need to get him to understand good manners and to come to them whenever they call him. At the moment he just looks at them when they call him!
I shall be going again soon to take things to the next stage. They have a challenge getting him not to chase their cat - and for the cat not to run which turns it into prey. Before we can do any more they need to be happy in proximity but safely separated by a gate.
When he has finished his injections Henry will need plenty of socialising – encounters with gentle and friendly dogs and acclimatisation to traffic, children, crowds and so on. The earlier this is established the better, while he still has his puppy fearlessness.
He was delightful. I can’t wait for my next visit. They have their ‘Puppy Plan‘ to start them off, and in a few weeks Henry will have reached the next stage.
23.11.2012
Airedale, Airedale puppy, mouthing, nipping, puppy
Poor Border Collie Sweeper does not feel safe. In some areas of the country automatic bird-scarers and those fired like rockets are going off like fireworks throughout daylight hours. At each bang Sweeper panics.
He can hear them even when we can’t. A dogs hearing can be up to 40 times better than ours.
He came over from Ireland two years ago – he’s now three – and it took them a while to discover the connection between his extreme fearfulness and bangs. He can rally during hours of darkness when bird-scarers are banned and during those few months that are quiet, but it’s only a temporary reprieve – false security. When I was there, with no bang for a while, he gradually became more confident and trusting, came out of hiding and started to play like a young dog should – see on the left. Then there was a bang that we all could clearly hear. Immediately Sweeper ran for cover. He is so brave but keeps getting knocked back! He is a gentle, obedient and sweet dog. No wonder the owners are so distressed for him.
Asking lots of questions, I dissected the situation in order to work out what we could do. The fact that something must have happened during the first year of his life to cause it is something that is already done, so we devised a plan for moving forward. This involved not so much approaching the problem directly, but working on changing Sweeper’s general stress levels and his confidence in his owners. By their own behaviour they need to convince him that they are ‘his rock‘. Until now they had believed it would give him confidence to make all the major decisions in his life when I believe it’s the opposite. He decides when to get the lady out of bed in the morning, when and where he eats, where he sleeps or spends the day, when he is touched and for how long, whether or not he will go outside in the garden and so on.
We can’t merely approach this head on. My reasoning is that a good parent or ‘leader’ would also be the main decision maker - and most importantly the ‘protector‘. Sweeper needs to see this as the role of his humans, not himself. His confidence in his owners needs building up. For now, walks need to be only either when it’s dark and there are no bangs, or in town parks where there are no bangs. If he misses a walk altogether it is much is less harmful to him than panic. In the order of importance to dogs (and to us) food, air and physiological necessities come first, followed closely by keeping safe. Exercise comes down the list.
The problem itself needs to be worked on. How should the owners be reacting when he’s scared at home – let alone when out? How should they deal with it? How can he be desensitised? From a new basis of confidence both in himself and his humans, he will be in a position to move slowly forward.
We have a plan, but it will be ‘slowly slowly catchee monkey’!
20.11.2012
Border Collie, Collie, Fear, bangs, bird scarer, fear of bangs, fear of fireworks
I visited Monty 18 months ago and he was something of a puppy nightmare – see here for his story back then: http://www.dogidog.co.uk/?p=2778.
Following instructions, Monty and his family were doing so well that bit by bit they departed from our plan, thinking it no longer necessary. Gradually his old problems returned, and instead of going back to the plan which had worked so well before, they have been ‘listening to people’ and ‘looking on the internet’ (one suggestion given to the young adult daughter was to stare him out which is an extremely aggressive and confrontational thing for one dog to do to another and which I would never, ever do with a dog).
Monty has been receiving a lot of confusing mixed messages.
Things have now have reached crisis point. Monty attacked the daughter twice last week; he is highly stressed. He growls constantly which is ignored as ‘not serious’. Unwittingly it’s being reinforced with lots of attention and the poor dog is now totally confused. He’s a mix of wilful and anxious – he jumped at me, nipped and humped me when I arrived, apparently because I was taking no notice of him; he is very persistent in getting his own way. We put him on harness and lead. He settled down. Later, he growled and lunged at the daughter; he was really scared afterwards and all I did was to silently lead him away.
We looked in detail at events that led up to each of the attacks and exactly what happened afterwards; these two areas need carefully working on against a backdrop of respecting his efforts to communicate, and taking as much general pressure off him as possible.
Monty never has liked invasion of his space; his growls are always ignored. One of the attacks happened on a day when he was already probably over-stimulated by other things and after he had been approached and touched in his bed – despite his warnings. He can’t talk, after all. Soon afterwards the daughter bent over to touch him. Explosion. What more can a dog do when he’s never listened to?
Because of how he was when I first met him aged 5 months, I just wonder whether there may be a touch of ‘Cocker rage‘ – just enough for him to ‘unpredictably’ fly off the handle if his stress levels are sufficiently high. Should this be the case it’s even more important that his humans are consistent and whilst giving consistent rules and boundaries they are also respectful of his needs.
When things go pear shaped it’s usually because owners have been treating behaviour modification a bit like giving antibiotic for an infection and once clear the medication stops. They need to regard it more like insulin – something that has to be administered for the rest of his life for a permanent condition.
So, it’s back to square one with Monty, and always harder the second time around.
19.11.2012
Biting, Cocker Spaniel, Stress, aggressive to people, attack, growling
My own working Cocker Spaniel, Pickle (aptly named), can be hard work. He has a wonderful nature, he’s gentle and affectionate but if there is any mischief to be had, Pickle will find it! Because of how I behave with all my dogs I’m thankful to say that he doesn’t do the things that Jacob does!
Look at Jacob’s face! What a Spaniel! Wonderful!
As the lady let me in, Jacob jumped up first on me, and then leapt straight up from the floor onto the kitchen table! It soon became apparent that this is normal. He spends a lot of time up on things – the kitchen table and the backs of sofas and chairs from where he will scratch at the lady’s head!
The poor lady is at her wit’s end with his barking. He quite simply controls her. He barks until she jumps to his tune – she will do anything to stop him so unintentionally she’s teaching him to bark. Jacob gets all his best quality attention for jumping up, barking and stealing things.
To gain a bit of physical control we tried putting his lead on – something to grab. You can see from the picture on the right that he soon found a way around that!!
What a splendid little dog but what a challenge for a fit and active person let alone someone a little bit frail. Fortunately her daughter lives down the road and her son stays with her during the week, though during the day he’s at work.
Jacob’s life lacks enrichment. There are two days a week when he doesn’t even go out. He’s a working dog designing his own work. Without rules, boundaries and a calm, consistent owner, a dog can also become anxious; Jacob is terrified of fireworks and certain other sounds.
We worked on a few rules. The kitchen table and sofa-backs are not part of a dog agility course! I showed them how to stop the jumping on back of chairs by teaching a replacement behaviour on the floor that is a lot more rewarding to him. Using positive methods and encouragement he’s really eager to please. Barking should no longer get the desired result. I also suggested they found a dog walker for the days the son isn’t there, because his life needs a bit more in it; he then won’t so badly need to manufacture his own stimulation.
Email received 7 weeks later from the daughter who originally contacted me on behalf of her mother: “Having spent Christmas Day and Boxing Day at my mum’s I am happy to report that Jacob’s behaviour has continued to improve. Table jumping is now a rare occurence, barking is less and he seems are far more settled and happier dog. Mum is much more relaxed too. On New Year’s Eve he apparently slept through the televised fireworks display! Tilly has maintained her new behaviour (Tilly is the daughter’s dog). Thank you so much for helping us to take a step back, view the world through the eyes of our dogs and changing our behaviour”.
17.11.2012
Barking, Barking for attention, Cocker Spaniel, Jumping up, jumping on table, working Cocker
From her owners’ perspective, adorable Bichon-Maltese mix Charlie is given everything a dog could possibly want for a happy life. They always thought the more excited she is the more joyful she feels. From Charlie’s perspective she is living a life punctuated by extreme stress and chronic anxiety.
Deservedly, Charlie is adored by the family – a lady, her daughter and her two granddaughters. By the end of my visit they began to see things in a different light. See the yawn? She is showing unease at being looked at while I took the photo.
When they greet Charlie she is ‘beyond excited‘ and they fire her up with vigorous attention – so much so that she may pee. They believe just because she’s so excited that it’s good for her. The lady always thought that Charlie loved to go out in the car. Charlie’s excited and jumps in willingly, but then she is barking at people, dogs and traffic. She is left in the car when the lady shops because ‘she loves it’ even though she’s quite happy left at home. The entire time she is barking at anything she sees that moves. 
Walks are horrendous. She pulls and barks at people, dogs and cars. It’s constant. They take her into the town where she is a ‘nightmare’, going for people’s legs; Mostly she is taken by car (barking all the way) to the park where she and her nervous owner are all the time looking about in near panic should a person or dog appear and if she’s off lead she will run back to the car or even try to find her way home.
Despite all this and like many other people – the lady feels that as a good and loving dog owner she must make Charlie go through this nightmare every day, and feels guilty if walks are missed. I would argue that Charlie’s mental and psychological health is more important than walks. Working on her confidence when out of the house will take a lot of time and patience.
I have recently watched a new DVD by famous trainer/behaviourist Suzanne Clothier called ‘Arousal, Anxiety and Fear’. She says she always mentally asks the dog, ‘How is this for you?’ She says ‘Make your dog feel safe’.
We put our dogs in situations where we think they are safe – but does the dog feel safe?
Loving their dogs as they do, why do so few people not consider, ‘How is this for you’ and help them out?
13.11.2012
Barking, Barking at people, Bichon Frise, Maltese, Maltese Terrier, anxious, barking in the car
Busby is a ten-month-old black Labrador, and absolutely gorgeous (most of the time!). On occasion his behaviour has reduced his poor young lady owner to tears.
Here is a typical morning: The lady lets him out into the garden and then he comes in for breakfast. All good so far. Then she likes to sit down and watch breakfast TV with a cup of tea and this is Busby’s cue! He will jump onto her and nip her and grab her clothes and tear at her slippers. He will leap up behind her on the sofa and if she tries to get him down he’s defiant. He may then fly about the furniture and the house doing what she calls ‘zoomies’! He will jump up onto the dining table. He may steal something and run off into the garden, initiating a guaranteed chase.
When she gets up and starts moving about, he stops all his nonsense.
This behaviour will also happen in the evening when her husband is at home and they want to sit down in peace, though she is Busby’s main target.
Busby is rewarded with guaranteed attention for these antics, with less reward in the form of attention when he’s calm and good. He needs alternative activities for his wild moods to occupy him and his jaws, along with plenty of positive reinforcement and reward for calm behaviour.
Fortunately Busby loves his large crate so I have devised a temporary alternative morning routine! When they go to bed they should block the dining table by tipping the chairs, ready for the morning. After his breakfast, when the lady sitting down is the trigger for his behaviour, he should for now go straight away into his crate which is with her in the sitting room, with something special to chew, She can now watch TV in peace until she’s ready to start her day. Both the lady and Busby will then have a happy stress-free start to the day.
They are a very conscientious couple and have taught Busby many things but his training is only any use when he is in the right mood. They now need to work on gaining his cooperation, especially out on walks which currently are not enjoyable for anybody - especially Busby who can no longer be let off lead because he won’t come back, and who spends all the walk trying to remove the Halti – the only way the lady can stop him pulling.
He won’t need that Halti any more!
Message ten days later – off to a good start. The gentleman has worked very hard and patiently at the walking and is building a very good relationship with him: “We feel that we have made progress in all areas, some progress is quicker than others. Overall we have noticed that he is much calmer now than he was before. Especially pleased with the progress we have made with walking. Walking has actually gone very well, I worked lots in the garden. But he soon began to bite the lead, lose focus and jump up on bite me, so ignore him, took off his lead and went inside, leaving him on his own in the garden. Returned 5 mins later and repeated until he didn’t jump up. By the 2nd day, we had progressed out of the garden gate and into the street. This weekend was a real break through, we managed to get all the way to the field where the town hall is and done lots of lead work in the big car park before walking back. Laura has notice a huge difference in his pulling and lunging “.
After Christmas – about seven weeks after my visit, and they are now beginning to enjoy their dog: “Well Christmas could have been a disaster but it actually went very well with an 11month old puppy in tow. He was very very well behaved, we only had to put him into his travel crate 3 times over Christmas day and Boxing day which was fantastic. He was very polite around people, especially my elderly grandparents, everyone commented on how well behaved he was, how much progress we have made with him and how calm he was with all the exciting things going on around him. We had a prefect walk on christmas morning, made it round our 45min circuit with no pulling at all”.
12.11.2012
Black labrador, Halti, Jumping up, Labrador, Pulling on lead, adolescent, grabbing clothes, hyperactive, nipping, teenager
A while ago I went to see two entire male Westies that had previously played and slept together, and now had started to growl and go for each other. They were doing really well until a month or so ago when things went downhill again. There had been problems at home with worry and tension and these little dogs will probably have picked up on it. The people have been inconsistent. I went to see them again last night.
Both dogs were back to their compulsive carpet-licking. Westie Milo was barking at any animal on the huge TV. Both are back to charging out into the garden, trying to get ahead of each other, often sparking off trouble. Every little thing gets them going and it snowballs; the more aroused they become, the more reactive they are so the more aorused the become, and so on.
We have put some new management suggestions into place. Both dogs are shown (one is entered for Crufts this year) and accustomed to being in a crate. I suggested one soft crate in the sitting room. Then the instigator of the growling can quietly be put in in the crate and both given something to chew – an alternative to carpet-licking that helps them to calm themselves (they can’t usually be given bones or chews because it could start a fight). With Milo’s barking at TV, again he can go in the crate and it can be covered. He is on ‘animal watch’ and his keen eyes spot the smallest animal on the screen! Something to do with dog’s eyesight and HD TV makes this possible. We let them into the garden, but before doing so the lady slipped a lead on each dog, waited at the door for calm, stepped out and only let the dogs off lead one at a time – the calmer one first. This worked perfectly. The people must remember to do it each time now for a while.
They had a Thundershirt for Milo and the fireworks (Merlin isn’t bothered by them). It made little difference apparently. While I was there we experimented with the Thundershirt and the carpet-licking. The Thundershirt went on Merlin and he stopped the licking and relaxed, completely calm. We put it on Milo and it made no difference at all. It was a graphic illustration played out before my eyes with two dogs of the same breed with the same habit, and of how a Thundershirt works very well with some dogs and not with others.
Here is the link to the story of my original visit: http://www.dogidog.co.uk/?p=9323
A week later and things are settling down again: “Thought I would give you a quick update a week after your visit. After having to put Milo in the crate a couple of time on the first couple of nights, things have greatly improved…..there has been very little, if any, growling. In fact, they have been playing the last couple of mornings when I have been having my breakfast. And evenings have been very good as well. So, hopefully we are moving in the right direction again”.
07.11.2012
Thundershirt, West Highland Terrier, Westie, growling, licking carpet
About six weeks ago Digger went for someone who bent down to touch him. It has happened a couple of times since, and the gentleman has noticed ‘that look‘ about him several times – especially when he wants to touch him – to wipe his feet or brush him perhaps.
Sixteen-month-old Jack Russel Digger is very little – the picture doesn’t do his beautiful soft coat and lovely little face justice. It was hard catching him still. He was on the go the whole time I was there.
Usually his male owner is throwing him a ball or toy to fetch all the time he’s in – almost on automatic whilst he watches TV. Digger drops it to be thrown over and over again.
Yesterday evening when I was there I asked the man to remove the toys. It was like Digger was going cold turkey. He was climbing the back of the chair, he peed on the floor several times and then he’d settle for a frantic chew to try to calm himself down before starting again with jumping behind me, licking my ear and biting my hair and whining to go out, only to come straight back in again.
If and when this ball game is introduced again it should be instigated by the gentleman only, and limited to five minutes in an evening. It is like Digger has a key in him and he’s being over-wound to breaking point. Meanwhile he needs plenty of things to chew, because chewing produces pheromones that help to calm him down.
I touched him gently and watched. After a while he subtly changed. He went still and his pupils dilated. I removed my hand.
Because the onset of this behaviour seemed so sudden and because there was no change in the dog’s life at the time so far as the man can see, I have suggested he takes Digger to the vet – just to make sure he’s well. If we have a headache we may well be less tolerant – just as if we are highly stressed we may be bad tempered. Digger looks fine but there may be something going on we can’t see.
Whatever the cause if it’s ever discovered, the treatment is much the same. Digger needs to be allowed to calm down. Family members make a huge fuss of him. He is adored. One minute he rules the roost – everything he wants he gets if he pesters for long enough – and the next minute he may be shouted at for jumping up and using his teeth.
I detect a rather confused, anxious little dog.
Email a few weeks later: ‘Thank you so much for your emails and words of encouragement. Digger is like a different dog within, i believe about 6 weeks ! I have taken an approach to the way i am with him thanks to yourself. We are now enjoying each others company so much more and you wont believe the tricks he has learnt already now he’s calmed. He also seems to really enjoy the tricks and is great at working out what i want him to do for me. He still has a bit of attitude but in a much nicer and different way than before and im happy with that as i feel he’s smart little fella and does have his own mind! Thanks again…’
06.11.2012
Biting, Jack Russell, Jumping up, Obsession, nipping, obsessive ball play
They have had two-year-old Lurcher Lena for four weeks. There is no history of her previous life.
She is a delightful dog, full of character – friendly and funny, but will be a lot easier to live with when she calms down and develops some impulse-control. She pulls terribly on lead and will generally do as she pleases. To quote her new owners, ‘she is totally unresponsive to our commands. She needs to learn some manners’. I found that she simply does as she likes despite their best efforts. She lacks self-control
A major problem is she torments their cats. She obsessively looks around for them when she leaves the house; she barks and whimpers when she sees one and lunges after it.
Lena was certainly active when I arrived! She was flying all of the sofa and vigorously shaking a rope toy, or charging around dropping a bone on the hard floor and skidding about after it. Manic! All this was made worse because she’s having to wear a lampshade that added to the chaos as she crashed into people and furniture. Out on a walk she had gashed her side badly on barbed wire, and whilst under anaesthetic the vet spayed her as well. It certainly hasn’t affected her energy levels!
I found her very responsive to a quiet voice and rewards.
A while ago I went to two whippets who similarly were on obsessive ‘cat-watch’ when they left the house. The people carefully stuck to the plan with great results (you can see the story: http://www.dogidog.co.uk/?p=4027).
Lena’s new owners know that this is going to take time and are prepared to put in whatever effort it takes. I only saw them yesterday and already Lena is testing the new boundaries!
04.11.2012
Cat, Lurcher, Pulling on lead, cat obsessed, cats, chasing cats
Charlie has had quite a few ups and down in his two years of life. As soon as I saw him he reminded me so much of my Milly who also had a difficult start. At some point somebody must have cared because he has been taught quite a few commands, but he was discovered somewhere left to starve, then kennelled and then fostered. Considering all this he’s doing brilliantly.
He has been in his new home for one week now, and one or two disturbing things are surfacing. He is very reactive and aggressive towards other dogs when out – something they’d not been warned about. Also, some occasional growling at the family is starting. With resources it’s all about owning them and hanging onto them, and when he has a toy or a bone he will parade it, growling.
Most of the time I was there Charlie was trying really hard to calm himself down, bless him. The family interpreted his behaviour around people as friendliness where I see a large element of anxiety. He’s not hyper at all, but more like the swan gliding on water and paddling furiously underneath, so the signs are not too bovious. They hadn’t read his somewhat obsessive licking of people, yawning, lip-licking, pacing, foot lifting and general restlessness as stress. The adult son asked me how could I know what these things meant. I said I can understand Charlie’s body language just as he can read another person’s face when they smile or frown. It’s through training and experience.
Where walking is concerned, so long as they patiently follow the plan, just like so many of my other clients with similar problems who have stuck at it, the family will ultimately have their daily long walks – and walks will be a joy and not something to dread.
The lady says she feels it’s cruel not to going for daily long walks. I say what is cruel is to have a highly stressed dog, pulling painfully on the lead, being forcibly held or corrected, wearing a muzzle which he is constantly trying to scrape off, trying to chase traffic, watching out for danger all the time – and when he sees another dog it’s a nightmare. That is cruel. It’s what many people with the best will in the world subject their dogs to, day in and day out.
Charlie is a wonderful dog. At last he is with the sort of family he deserves, who want to understand him and do their best of him.
02.11.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, GSD, German Shepherd, Pulling on lead, Resource guarding, aggressive to dogs on walks, anxious, growling, possessive
Sascha is a beautiful two-year-old German Shepherd who lives with GSDs black Tango (10) and Annie (4).
The couple who own them run a rabbit rescue and these dogs are incredible. Rabbits are free in parts of the house and run around the dogs who are completely chilled with them.
This visit was a good example of how people who are living in the middle of their situation can’t see it clearly, and how under the general pressures of life things have gradually slipped until, to quote the lady, their dogs were no longer a pleasure but an inconvenience to put up with.
Sascha is generally quite pushy but also more nervous; she hackles and barks when people come to the house. In no time at all after I arrived she was happy and friendly, as were the other two. All the time I was encouraging the lady to keep quiet, not to scold the dogs, not tell them to go away and not to use the word ‘no’. To relax. They are dogs after all. It’s natural for them to gently sniff a stranger.
These dogs get nearly all their attention when they are doing something unwanted – Sascha in particular, and mostly in the form of ‘no’ and scolding. They get no attention or reward for being good.
Sascha opens doors and child gates, she toilets on the floor immediately after she has been taken outside. She bullies poor Annie who spends much of her time hiding in the kitchen. The couple would leave them to get on with it – to sort it out for themselves. I ask people in this sort of situation, ‘what would you do if you had a child bullying her sister?‘. Would you leave her to get on with it? Would you not kindly teach her a better way of behaving and protect the victim? Sascha is a very brainy dog who needs more stimulation. We did a bit of very simple clicker training and it was marvellous to see how focused and eager to please she became with something that is reward-based. We wouldn’t want to work for nothing and it’s the same for dogs, whether it’s food reward, play or merely praise.
Reinforcement drives behaviour.
Soon this lovely young couple will be bonding with their beautiful dogs, and enjoying them once more like they used to.
25.10.2012
Bullying other dog, GSD, German Shepherd, clicker training
Enzo seems to live in a little world all of his own – probably because his life is just so confusing. He is a four-year-old French Bulldog.
Enzo has a lot of change to get used to. His young owners live in London and have lots of friends. They pick him up, cuddle him and make a lot of fuss; he is taken on the underground and buses.
He will be left with different people in different places. He also stays with the parents and at the moment he is in their large, quiet house in the country for several weeks.
Enzo has problems. He will suddenly attack the two Springer Spaniels where he is now staying. The brother has a young Pug and he goes for him also. On walks he is kept on lead around dogs because of his behaviour. He obsesses with anything that moves, whether it’s leaves or bits of rubbish and will be constantly looking, pulling and pouncing. He chases cars.
He is a very difficult little dog to read. With no tail we get no clues from that end. With his flat face only his eyes give a clue. It is very likely that in the past he thinks he has given other dogs warning signs to keep their distance but they have simply been unable to read them, so now he goes straight into attack mode. The more activity and action there is around him, the more volatile he becomes. But it looks as if it’s out of the blue. Compared to Spaniels he appears inscrutable.
His body language is unusual. He does a strange little bow – see the picture. With most dogs this would be an invitation to play, but with Enzo he has his back to the people.
The parents want to spend the time he has with them helping him to become calmer and happier. With people he is gentle and obedient if somewhat disengaged; lots of pampering, being carried about and play fighting may be fun for the young people, but it’s not good for Enzo. After one day here he already seems calmer. They will work on his behaviour with their own dogs and dogs outside. They will work on his obsession with chasing things. With lower stress levels in Enzo, the poor Springer Spaniels will be able to relax again in their own home.
Six days after my visit: For two days Enzo hasn’t gone for the other dogs once. What I didn’t mention here is Springer Willow’s pulling on lead. Willow had a ‘no pull harness’ and short lead but she still pulled. Her lady owner did my what she calls ‘crazy walking’ for a few days and then the recommended soft harness with ring on the chest arrived. “After I spoke to you I decided to try Willow out with her new harness and lead, and I can honestly say I am amazed! There was absolutely no pulling, and it was the most enjoyable walk I have ever had with her!”
Twelve days after my visit: Enzo now has a harness like Willow’s, and I took them out together today and it was all fine, very little pulling from either. I also took Enzo alone, just 100m and back to do a little leaf/car chasing avoidance, and he responded really well, so I am planning this maybe a few times a day… I can’t believe how calm everything is, thanks for your help and support, we both feel really positive about how the training is going feel confident now about addressing Enzo’s car/leaf/rubbush issues, and even encountering other dogs. In fact we met another dog in the field today, Enzo and the other dog were on leads, I called to explain that I was training Enzo to be better around other dogs and explained that I was going to arc around them, this Enzo managed calmly, he looked across at the other dog but did not seem to get stressed or anxious- he didn’t pull on the lead, or stare, or bark, and the hairs on the back of his neck stayed down, so that felt good!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
21.10.2012
French Bulldog, attacking dog, chasing rubbish, chasing traffic
If Staffie Dudley were a human he would probably be on Valium! A person like Dudley would be on the go non-stop, never stop talking, chewing their nails, demanding attention all the time, unable to listen properly because so preoccupied, jumping into the air and screeching at sudden sounds and being inappropriately demonstrative to strangers! Dudley is extremely reactive to things. The only time he is still seems to be when he is chewing something – chewing releases pheromones that help to calm him; the things he chooses to chew aren’t always suitable and then getting them off him may be difficult. Dudley never stopped moving all the time I was there. He took a newspaper, a dish cloth, tried to stand up at the side, but his nose in a tea cup, bit my pad, jumped on people, jumped on the sofa – all things he knew he shouldn’t do and all things that usually would win him attention in the form of scolding.
He seems to be calmest of all when the young lady and her mother, who he has lived with since he was a year old, are out or at night when he’s asleep, which seems to indicate that humans cause the problem. During the day when he’s alone with just the mother he’s not too bad, but if she has friends around he goes manic which makes her stressed and anxious too. That will only add to the problem.
Dudley is very reactive to bangs, made far worse a while ago by a bird scarer and now he will frequently freeze on walks if he hears something. He refuses to go anywhere near the field where the bang had occurred.
Soon it will be November 5th and fireworks. He is terrifid and usually runs upstairs and hides in the bath. There are certain strategies here on the ‘Fireworks’ page. In Dudley’s case a DVD of bangs and noises could be very helpful. It could take weeks, starting off very soft and gradually increasing the volume, always ready immediately to take it back a notch if he gets worried. The behaviour of his humans during the firework sounds is key.
When people come to visit they can help him out. Nobody should excite him and if he’s given something special to engage his mouth on, like a bone or antler bar, it should help him keep himself calm. He really does his best. People sometimes think their dogs are naughty and see them in a whole new light when they understand why they are doing the chewing. The lady and her mother need to keep him as calm as possible, and this means they themselves need to be calm around him. His fears of walks need to be dealt with very slowly. Walking him happily out of the door would be a start, and they can build on that in tiny increments.
Dudley is three years old, a young dog. He is gentle and loving and has great potential. He is much loved and I know they will put in the work necessary to give him a calmer, quality life, not frantically stressing when people come or terrified of sounds out on walks and enabling him to relax. Helping him out with special things to chew at stressful times will help, and rewarding good calm behaviour with attention.
Three days later: “Amazing response already. Much calmer. Not taking things nearly so much.”. Twelve days later: “I feel that our own behaviour has had a positive impact on Dudley, the way we deal with things now. Dudley is responding really well to us being calmer”.
19.10.2012
Staff, Staffie, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, fear of fireworks, fireworks, stressed
Kiera lives with a gentleman and his mother. The lady unfortunately is not well and seldom goes out. She is not really up to looking after an energetic young dog all day, but her son brought Kiera home.
Whenever Kiera does something the lady doesn’t want, she is shouted at. NO! Mostly she ignores her. The lady unfortunately hasn’t the mobility to quickly get up and move her away. After all, she’s not being taught what is good behaviour, only being scolded for bad. Scolding does at least get her attention under her own terms.
During the day she spends too much time creating her own stimulation. She is digging in the garden, wrecking the plants and becoming possessive of a spot under a bush. Then, when the gentleman comes home in the evening, she is over-stimulated by him. Excitement and stress causes her fly at them, attack feet, bite clothes, and to be destructive – she scratches at chairs, carpets and walls. She is deaf to NO. She barks continually at him until he takes her out. Which he does.
Throughout her puppy-hood Kiera has been learning that bad behaviour gets the attention. She has to be doing something with her active brain, after all. She is fed on a commercial brand of food known to cause hyperactivity because it contains additives and colourings. She is also give lots of unhealthy extras and taught to be a nuisance at mealtimes by being fed from their plates. She has so many unearned tit-bits that food rewards have no value.
Meals need to be regular and healthy, and treats earned. Then, when she’s doing something they don’t want, it will be sufficient to call her away and divert her onto something else, because she will realise this is when she gets a treat – not doing nothing at all or just to shut her up.
Kiera needs some boundaries. Kiera’s behaviour is so clearly a result of the behaviour of the humans in her life. People need to be consistent, calm, patient and kind. She needs encouragement and reward for the desired behaviour and no attention for unwanted or wild behaviour.
I can help you, too, with an unruly young dog or any other problems that you may be having. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
18.10.2012
Biting, Collie cross, Digging, boisterous, grabbing clothes
Tommy is delightful – a small Staffie X aged eight. He has had a hard life but landed on his feet a few days ago with two older gentlemen.
I am helping them to start off right with Tommy – a fresh beginning for him.
They may have a challenge not to spoil him too much in the early days. It’s much better to give a dog some rules and boundaries so that he knows what’s what from the outset. It will help him to feel secure. He also needs to be allowed some independence to avoid him developing separations issues.
There are however big problems with other dogs on walks when Tommy is on lead, and I suspect they were trying to do too much too soon. He will feel trapped on lead, in a strange environment with people he doesn’t know well. This needs to be taken back to basics, loose lead and calmer walking established, and plenty of standing and watching the world go by with the men knowing exactly how to react when a dog appears.
Because he is using aggression to protect himself, they suggested using a muzzle. I see it like this: Imagine a large gorilla is walking you on a chain through a safari park where you know there may be lions lurking. You are trapped, uncomfortable and helpless, all your attempts to pull and escape painfully thwarted. When a lion appears in the distance, rather than putting in some distance the gorilla yanks you to his side and keeps walking towards the lion - jerking the chain if you protest. This is an exaggerated version of how Tommy probably feels when out and on lead. Muzzling him? It’s like the gorilla has made you even more helpless by tying your hands behind your back.
Tommy needs to be able to trust his walker, and his walker needs to know how to react when other dogs are about.
Five weeks later: “I had my first ‘close encounter’ with another dog last night. But for the first time I didn’t panic or tense up. Jake was on lead and two dogs were quite a distance away. I kept walking towards them and as soon as he clocked them I stopped and turned to walk the other way, he just followed!! In the past he would of stood his ground and not moved. Then to top it all there was another one coming the other way, so did exactly the same. I did put him in the car (didn’t feel quite ready to deal with 3 dogs off lead running around) and I stood in front the window facing the dogs. They came bounding up to me, Jake didn’t move – normally he would have barked!! Made of fuss of a couple of them, Jake just sat there. I can’t believe how in control I felt”.
A couple of months after my visit: ‘Yesterday was two months to the day. The difference is amazing’.
17.10.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, Staffie, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, aggressive to dogs on walks, rescue dog
Goldie Fynn is one year old. He is boisterous and confident. He lives with three-year-old black Labrador, Alfie.
His exuberance has been causing problems. A few weeks ago he bowled his lady owner over and she broke her ankle, so the gentleman has a lot to do just now.
Fynn feels it is his job to control both his humans and Alfie. He finds all sorts of ways to gain their attention and has learnt that if he persists with something annoying for long enough he will always get a reaction of some sort! When he is especially stirred up, like if someone comes to the house or they are released from their leads into an open space, Alfie will redirect his pent up stress and excitement onto poor Alfie, who gets ‘hounded’ and jumped upon. One day Alfie may begin to stand up for himself.
Fynn’s attitude has now spilled out onto walks where other dogs are concerned – when he’s on lead. He’s fine when he’s free, but on lead he reacts with barking and lunging and sounding rather aggressive. This is not helped because his anxious humans, the minute they see a dog and irrespective of whether Fynn reacts or not, they anxiously reel him in and maybe talk to him, believing it to be soothing. All they are doing is conveying their anxiety..’uh-oh, a dog…trouble!’. The previously sociable Alfie now joins in.
Between times Fynn is a wonderful pet. He is adolescent and will grow out of a lot of this so long as he’s given firm and consistent messages about who controls whom and who makes the decisions – whether at home or out on walks, and learns that nothing happens until he is in a calm state. This will take considerable patience and time – his humans just waiting quietly for him to be ready and calm before they walk him, let him in with visitors, feed him, and so on. Fynn will learn!
A month later: “Fynn is now a treat to walk on the lead. I am so pleased. Alfie is also much better”.
I can help you, too, with your boisterous young dog or any other that you may be having. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
16.10.2012
Golden retriever, aggressive to dogs on walks, aggressive to dogs when on lead, boisterous
Little Mitzy is a seven-year-old Border Terrier. Mitzy is a bundle of worry.
I watched her shaking, regularly lifting her paw and licking her lips like she was taking a bite of air.
I was called because they no longer take her for walks due to her ‘aggression’ towards other dogs. This I’m sure is due to terror, and she nearly strangles herself lunging at them.
Mitzy is in a state before she even leaves the house. She shakes when her harness is put on. She pulls down the road, already highly stressed, and that’s before she even sees a dog. Even though she has never actually harmed a dog on a walk, they were so worried that they had been muzzling her which would have increased her feeling of helplessness.
We have listed all the things that stress poor Mitzy and these need working on. Reducing her anxiety at home must be a start, because if she is permanently aroused she’s in no a fit state to face the scary outside world.
The lady and her two daughters are going to go back to basics with the walking and break it down into tiny steps. Any walking at all – even five minutes two or three times a day – is a lot better than she’s getting now.
First she needs a comfortable harness. Nothing more should happen until she is happy having it put on and wearing it – no shaking. – so she may need it left on for a few days. Then they need to walk her in the garden where she feels relatively safe, teaching her how pleasant it is when the lead is loose, treats and encouragement are used and they themselves are relaxed. This could take weeks! Next step is to venture through the gate. Only when she can do that calmly should they try walking outside. She won’t be ready for ‘other dogs’ yet! I myself sometimes use a ‘stooge’ dog – a realistic stuffed boxer I call Daisy that I can place at a distance. This can be done with real distant dogs, but Daisy is predictable and stands still! The people can then remain relaxed whilst rehearsing their procedure for meeting dogs. They need to manage the environment and choose quiet times. Having an unscheduled close encounter would set things back at this stage.
The lady and her two teenage daughters are very committed to helping Mitzy and I”m sure they will give it as long as it takes which could be many months. Mitzy will start to enjoy walks. There is no reason why, after she can negotiate going out as far as the car calmly and happily, they should not drive her to somewhere open and dog-free, put her on a long line, no muzzle, and give her some freedom.
13.10.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, Border Terrier, Scared, Stress, aggressive to dogs on walks, scared of other dogs, stressed, walk
Two-year-old English Bull Terrier/Staffie mix Norma is a good example of what happens when a dog lacks any socialisation to people and everyday life in the first three months of life – the crucial period for encountering things before fear responses start to kick in. Puppies usually start off being trusting and carefree.
I didn’t take this photo – she was not this relaxed with me there.
Norma started life probably in a shed or barn – a puppy farm, then at two months old the litter was taken to the vet to be put to sleep but the vet refused and they ended up in kennels. She was there for four months until her current owners adopted her at six months old.
Her people are conscientious and caring, with a good natural insight into Norma’s needs. They have come a long way. They now have a new baby and they are worried about the future.
Whenever anyone comes to the house Norma growls and barks aggressively. She then seems almost to lure them into eye contact by staring or leaning on them – whereupon, when they look at her or move, she springs back into growling and barking. It is a strange case. She is quieter out of the room behind the gate where she can still see the people, but whilst there she will shake until they have gone.
Outside the house it is just as bad. She panics and wants to come home if out of sight of their home. The only way to get her walking enthusiastically is to carry a football and then keep kicking it to the point where she has become obsessive, but at least it keeps her mind of anything else. This is not a natural pastime for a dog and simply stirs her up more. If she sees a person approaching her hackles go up and she barks and lunges, and already fired up it’s hardly surprising. Norma first needs to learn to walk on a loose lead, to enjoy proper ‘dog walks’ with sniffing and doing doggy things. With hard work she should gradually learn that people are not a threat. This will take a long time, and I shall behind them all the way for as long as it takes.
There is hope. Once Norma does get to know people, she is very friendly – a well-behaved and biddable dog. Her people are really on the ball and prepared to give it their all. They are already going that extra mile. They have a supportive family who are also on board.
Possibly fear of humans could be the most difficult thing to remedy because you can’t put the clock back.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
11.10.2012
EBT, English Bull Terrier, Fear of people on walks, Staffie, early socialisation, fear of people
Thirty-five years ago, long before I had even heard of dog training let alone behaviour work, I had a large and boisterous Golden Labrador called Paddy. He was wonderful with my children but a devil for jumping up. 18-month old Dotty, the dog I went to see last night, reminded me so much of him!
The owners – the gentleman in particular – had taught her to jump up at people by exciting her, catching her feet and dancing about and allowing her to jump on them when sitting down. She is wildly excited and jumping on them when they come home – and rewarded with fuss. Even when people didn’t want her to be jumping up, their way of trying to stop her was merely reinforcing it.
This behaviour is especially difficult around guests who may not like being jumped up on by a large dog – and she is just the same when she meets people out on walks.
About four months ago Dotty was attacked out of the blue by another dog. She had always been great with dogs. But, from that time, she has decided to get it in first and has lept on dogs she doesn’t know, grabbing them and pinning them down, looking and sounding aggressive. As one might expect, she is highly excited before leaving for a walk, grabs the lead and pulls, so this has to change before she can be expected to be relaxed around other dogs – or people.
All this bouncing about isn’t through pure joy. I read in it a certain amount of frantic anxiety. If a human was so unable to control herself she may well need some sort of counselling! Her owners need to earn her trust and respect by giving her better leadership and behaving more calmly around her. She needs rules and boundaries. She is a bit like a loose canon with little self control or inhibition apart from, fortunately, when she’s around the little three year old daughter. Dotty is a dream with her. She is gentle. She never jumps at her. She follows her and her friends about and even jumps on the trampoline with them. They have a wonderful relationship.
Doitty is a highly trainable dog. I managed, with rewards, to teach her to lie down in about two minutes. She has not had training. She has been lavished with food from the table but never had to earn anything. Seeing her focused on me was a joy – both for me and for Dotty.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
09.10.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, Golden Labrador, Jumping up, Labrador, children, jumping all over people
Somebody said “The dog is your mirror. The behaviour you get is usually, in some way, a reflection of your own.” This was particularly apparent in the case I went to yesterday with fifteen-month old Pug, Parker.
He has problems that only manifest themselves around his lady owner, not with the gentleman. For instance, when the man takes him out, he is unfazed when someone approaches them and is okay for them to lean over and touch him. The man is relaxed about it. When the lady takes him out, he becomes very anxious when a person approaches; the lady is anxious. Parker barks aggressively and if someone tries to touch him he may snap.
The biggest problem for the family is that Parker feels threatened when someone comes to the house (or feels the lady and young son might be threatened – not the man). He is becoming increasingly protective. He will bark quite aggressively at them. He gets very agitated if either the lady or the son leaves the room.
It seems Parker picks up on the man’s confidence and the lady’s anxiety. Because of how she treats him in general, he has the idea that he must protect her – almost as though she is a resource belonging to him. It is one of the consequences of allowing a dog to call all the shots – in a way the son would never be allowed to.
Parker mostly gets attention under his own terms, and one of the best attention-getters is to steal a shoe! There is then a lot of chasing with three humans trying to corner him. A great game. See him on the right with a slipper? We ignored him so he lay down with it!
A dog full of his own importance may be more precious about his own personal space. A dog used to being in control may feel fear when forced into a position where he lacks control. The recent visit to the vet was a fiasco and in the end he had to be sedated in order for the vet to give him the kennel cough dose up his nose (when the gentleman alone has taken him to the vet he has been a lot calmer).
Parker is a teenager and like human teenagers he needs rules and boundaries presented to him in a kind and positive way. He needs to be rewarded for good behaviour and not reinforced with attention for bad behaviour. His people need to be consistent – to stick to their guns. In the past plump little Parker has been lavished with food, treats and even fed from their own plates. If we were showered with money, would we bother to work for it? It’s the same with attention. If attention is always freely on tap, why should the dog take notice when we need him to do something for us. By rationing attention somewhat, giving it more under our own terms, we become more valued and relevant.
Nearly three months have now gone by, and I have received this email: “Just thought I should give you an update on Parker! We have been working hard with him over the last few months & he is a changed little doggie. It was a real tester over Christmas with people coming & going & although he still barks at the doorbell on occasion, he settles down very quickly. When out for walks he now automaticaly sits when strangers or other dogs approach & we then give him a small treat after they have passed & we don’t ever have any pulling of the lead . He still begs for food (he’s a greedy pug) but realises he is wasting his time. Oh & he is in love with his stagbars”!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
06.10.2012
Barking, Barking at people, Barking at visitors, Protective, Pug, fear of vet, spoilt dog
Two lovely-natured and much-loved little Wire haired Daschunds (doesn’t the picture on the left tell a story!). Both are eighteen months of age but not brothers. They are competitive teenagers.
Schnitzel is a confident little dog – not needy at all. He loves a cuddle but is also happy to be alone. He is very happy with the very busy family life, all the friends and children who are in and out of the house. When he’s had enough he simply takes himself off. His way of showing attitude is by marking in the dogs’ beds and crate, sometimes staring his owners in the face as he does so! This is MY space! There is competition between the dogs as to which is the greatest.
Little Noodle is a more highly strung. Things sometimes get a bit too much for him and the stress may build up until he’s had enough – enough of excitement, children and being pulled around. He has tried warning with gently growling but has been either scolded or ignored and he has now gone on to snapping the air and found this did the trick – the child quickly left him alone so he no doubt will do this again. He did, once, snap at their four-year-old’s face, marking it. It can be hard teaching a child that grabbing or hugging dogs, or putting their face right into the dog’s, is something most dogs would not enjoy. The nearest a dog would know of a hug would be humping, and that could be an unwelcome and dominant action by the humper.
Just because the dogs are small and seriously cute, they are still dogs. Whilst they may love fuss, they can have a lot to put up with. A child might pick one up – because she can. Then the child may well be given a warning growl and if the growl is ignored – an air snap. Dogs can’t talk. It’s perfectly reasonable. If these little dogs had been born German Shepherds or Labradors they would have been treated very differently from the start.
What is now needed is a little understanding of Noodle’s personality and that sometimes he has simply ‘had enough’. He also can be defiant – he is a teenager after all. People need to watch for the signs and give him space. If confrontation is avoided he will learn to willingly cooperate if rewards are used. A reward is only like saying ‘Thank You‘ after all. Both dogs need a safe haven away from young children when things get a bit too noisy.
The rule must be, for children in particular, ‘don’t pick the dogs up’! They are wonderful friendly little dogs, good with all people and other dogs. Absolute treasures in fact. It is important that children are not allowed to take advantage of their good nature.
05.10.2012
Daschund, Uncategorized, Wirehaired Daschund, growling, growling at child, nip child, nipping
I have fallen in love, again! Little 7-month-old Perro was found in sad circumstances in Spain, quarantined, and brought home by friends of the couple who have now had him for one month. He is a terrier of some sort.
He is remarkably stable and resilient considering what he has been through in his short life. He is very fortunate with his new home with the patient couple who have already come a long way with him in just one month.
The main problem is his over-excitement and jumping up – sometimes grabbing with his mouth also. It’s especially difficult because they have a three-year-old daughter who gets scratched by his claws. He is extremely good with her – he adores her – and she has already been taught to be gentle and respectful around him.
People seldom realise that they are actually reinforcing the jumping up. If a dog does it this persistently, then they must be. It has be rewarding for him in some way. So, they need to be just as persistent in their own new responses to his jumping up for as long as it takes. Perro will naturally begin to try even harder when he finds what usually works no longer works, and he may even get frustrated and get worse temporarily. Keep calm – and see it through!
The other thing that needs working on is walks. He is currently on an extendable lead and pulls all the time – and why not? An extendable or flexilead has a spring that ensures it’s always tight so it simply teaches the dog to resist. Pulling away a reflex action in response to being pulled back. There is no such thing as loose lead walking on a flexilead, unless it’s locked, and then why not use a proper lead of a good length that is more comfortable to hold? Perro also gets very excited when he sees dogs and people – straining towards them and then jumping all over them.
He has so many good points. He’s not a big barker, he’s scared of nothing apart from the car, he eats well, he doesn’t beg, he is biddable, very friendly and affectionate. Just look at him!
A couple of days later I called in again to work on giving Perro a behaviour incompatible with jumping up, using a clicker. Clickers are often used in the wrong way, but used correctly clicker training is very useful because it encourges the dog to make his own right decisions and isn’t about us giving him commands. This way he learns self control rather than people trying to control him – which very often will hype a dog up even more.
Ten days after my visit I have feedback on his walking is going: “I have been working on this walking out the back and am seeing real improvements, it will take time especially when there are distractions, but he is not pulling continuously anymore”.
Three and a half weeks have now gone by: Perro is getting on really well………We are on holiday at my parents at the moment and Perro is behaving very well. I have asked my family to get up and fold their arms, giving him no attention if he jumps up and they are all being fantastic with it. I have just had a lovely walk with him, he is walking really well on the short lead. I am remaining very determined to keep him walking on a loose lead, We saw some cars go by while we were walking and he didn’t leap at the at all and paid them hardly any attention at all which is fabulous. I have been doing as you suggested clipping his lead on him first thing in the morning to stop him jumping at us and this is working really well …. I am also still working at the impulse control training as in the video and he is responing very well to this……We are remaining calm and consistent and i feel are making steady progress”.
24.09.2012
Jumping up, Pulling on lead, Terrier, extendable lead, flexileads, jumping all over people
Molly, a five-year old Goldendoodle – cross between a Golden Retriever and a Poodle, is a tolerant, gentle, friendly and stable dog, and seems to have fitted in remarkably well with being effectively sidelined by the arrival of baby Thomas a year ago. Recently, however, wi
th his increased mobility, Thomas has been falling on her, lying on her and banging her with toys.
The problem came to a head yesterday. She had started to growl when she had had enough. I’m sure there were other signs that another dog would have recognised immediately that were ignored before she resorted to growling. When she did growl, as had happened one or two times previously, Thomas was immediately whisked away and Molly was told NO. What had she learnt from growling? That it was the only way to get rid of the ‘problem’ (so growling achieved its aim). Yesterday the ‘problem’ – Thomas – came straight back to her and Molly had no choice but to take it one step further; she opened her mouth and slightly caught the baby’s head.
Watching them today, I was surprised at just how much she will tolerate, though she is obviously uneasy. When I first arrived the baby was in bed, and Molly lay relaxing on the floor. As soon as Thomas was brought down she started to show signs of stress which her owner hadn’t noticed before. Sometimes they need pointing out to people.
The sitting room is only small, with a gate in the doorway. I watched Molly carefully as she started to pace about, she then licked me which she hadn’t done previously. Then she found herself a bone to chew (chewing releases calming pheromones). She was working so hard at calming herself. Thomas went to touch the bone, but Molly didn’t flinch. What a good girl. She was doing all she possibly could and this was only about fifteen minutes so far of Thomas being in the room. She probably had been enduring this for a long time, doing all she could to both tell him to give her space whilst calming herself, before being driven to snapping. She was probably pushed beyond endurance.
Molly needs to be given sanctuary out of reach of Thomas, the other side of the gate where she still can see them, immediately she shows signs of unease or when Thomas goes to lie on her or to bang her. It’s essential Molly has a means of escape. This isn’t banishment. It has to be done kindly and she can be given something nice to do – like a bone to chew. Children with animals must learn to treat them with respect – as I’m sure Thomas will as he gets a little older. The young lady needs to act appropriately now. The wrong responses in this sort of situation can only make things go downhill, and where does that leave the poor dog?.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
20.09.2012
baby, goldendoodle, growling at child, toddler
Milo is a beautiful 14 month old Cocker-Springer mix. His family adopted him from Wood Green three months ago at eleven months of age. It became obvious very soon just why his previous owners had given up on him, but fortunately the members of his new family are giving it all they can and have already made progress.
Milo didn’t have a good start in life because his mother died when he was born and consequently he was hand-reared. It is almost impossible for a human to replace the lessons taught by his mother. From his behaviour it also seems likely that he didn’t have the rough and tumble, give and take and bite inhibition lessons learnt from being reared with siblings.
He’s a very good natured and friendly dog – but he is a handful! His ‘crimes’ include jumping up, mouthing and nipping; stealing things for the attention and the chase; nip-biting when examined or groomed, and grabbing a hand that takes his collar; jumping up at work tops to steal food; he jumps all over visitors and they are afraid to have their young nephews and neices visit them. At the start of walks he is flying about, leaping up and grabbing the lead, nipping arms and maybe humping the person holding it. Basically he lacks self control or any form of impulse control.
His is a perfect example of reinforcement driving behaviour. Attention of any sort will do! When looked at like that the solutions become clearer. We unintentionally reinforce unwanted behaviour so need to reinforce with attention desired behaviour only. This may be easier said than done – which is where I come in with strategies.
Milo has some very good traits. He is affectionate. He never barks for attention and is peaceful in his crate – very necessary when they aren’t about to watch him! Neither is he a big barker generally. The things that most stimulate him need reducing so that he can calm down. It’s not a good idea to play tug games or chase games with a dog that mouths, nips and grabs, or who steals things and runs off with them – winding you up for a chase.
He needs rules and boundaries in terms that he understands – provided more by the actions of his humans than by words and commands. Good self-controlled behaviour needs to become more rewarding than bad behaviour.
About 5 weeks later – some good progress with lead walking: ‘We see lots of progress compared to where we were and are confident your plan is working. One proud moment yesterday was when we watched our son taking Milo out for a short walk. The whole process was a result of the training plan – Milo allowed him to fit the harness without any fuss, he sat and waiting while the lead was attached. He remained calm, and followed my son out of the door with a slack lead, we watched them go off down the driveway, Milo walking at his side, lead slack and a general confident look. Matt had a treat for him and he certainly deserved it!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
14.09.2012
Jumping up, Sprocker, Stealing things, biting lead, hand-reared, mouthing
Scrummy is a magnificent 14-month old adolescent German Shepherd. He lives with two other male GSDs with a lady who has had several Shepherds over the years – but never one quite like Scrummy!
He has always been wilful. Here is another dog that has had plenty of basic dog training at classes, but understanding commands alone isn’t the answer. All three dogs are quite excitable and liable to redirect onto one another. There is a feeling of competition between them, with the oldest, Blitz, hanging onto his lead role (for now). I fear that Scrummy is becoming a contender and if all of them don’t calm down and have more respect for their humans, real conflict could develop between them.
Over the past few weeks Scrummy’s already challenging and controlling behaviour has become more worrying. He has developed rather a strange reaction to human hands. When someone has been touching him and the hand is taken away or a hand is moved past him – say someone has reached for something – he goes not for the hand but leaps up at the person’s face and snaps - so far only snapping the air. The lady is very afraid that he’s becoming aggressive, but I don’t think so. Surely aggression involves a particular intent or state of mind? There is no snarling, no hackling and no fear involved. It’s more like a desire to control and a conditioned reaction which needs to be replaced with something better. I watched the teenage daughter playing with him, and when she took her hand away he automatically went to snap at it. I could see there was absolutely no ‘aggressive’ intent.
I did a ‘personal space‘ test, and although he comes near and is friendly, he doesn’t actively want to be touched. People assume that a dog standing beside them is asking to be touched – but that’s not necessarily the case. ‘Just because I’m near you and friendly doesn’t mean I want your hand on me‘. Added to this, Scrummy has a very strong prey drive and is extremely reactive to movement - including to hands moving past his face. Also uncontrolled, excitable jumping up has been unintentionally encouraged. I believe it’s a question of working on a calmer environment, and teaching him some self-control and manners. He can’t both keep his feet on the floor and jump up at faces at the same time.
For now the lady is so worried that her anxiety is contagious to Scrummy. While she is getting her confidence back, Scrummy will be learning some manners and respect.
Seven months later and after a lot of work: “From being the worst behaved puppy I have had he has turned out to be one of the best dogs to live with…….I am teaching him relaxation with the clicker. I have a small mat which I throw on the floor and if he looks at it I click and give him a titbit on the mat without saying anything. I then progressed to him having his paws on the mat and then to sitting on the mat and now to lying down on the mat. My aim is to continue to click and reward for any sign of relaxation, such as head lowering etc. A friend asked me to help her with her obedience training today and so after training she and her husband and dog came into my kitchen for a coffee. I had been telling her about this relaxation training so thought I would try it. I bought him into the kitchen and threw down his mat and after a few minutes he was lying on the mat and did not show any attention to the people or dog present. I feel this is a real step forward to teaching him to relax in the presence of strangers etc. I was really pleased with the progress he made today. Yes, at them moment his mind is geared towards how do I get the titbit but also his mind is not thinking about people and other dogs, so I thought a huge step forward”.
13.09.2012
GSD, German Shepherd, snap, snapping, snapping at faces, snapping when hand is withdrawn
Beautiful eighteen month old Chocolate Labrador Oscar was a difficult puppy. They admit they spoilt him and by the time he was four months old they found him hard to cope with – stealing, grabbing, nipping and so on, so they took him to puppy classes. Oscar has been going to dog training classes (of the ‘old-fashioned’ kind) ever since. They have worked very hard and conscientiously with him and continue to do so, especially the teenage daughter whose dog he is, and she has done brilliantly.
Understanding lots of commands and training exercises is not much use if a dog chooses to ignore them when they are most needed, and Oscar is adolescent! I am certain that with a much more positive approach with reinforcement for good behaviour rather than commands and corrections for the bad behaviour, Oscar would by now be no trouble at all. In fact, if they had applied these methods from the start when he was a puppy, things would be very different.
As it is, he is desperately attention seeking and controlling, and carries on until he gets attention of some sort, whether it’s through stealing socks or spectacles, jumping on people, licking faces or chewing furniture. Commands are attention. Pushing him is attention. Even looking at him is attention. It can be relentless. I imagine the words No, and Leave It and Off are used so frequently they are now background noise to Oscar! Even feeding is a process where he has to jump through several hoops, so to speak, meaningless to a dog, before he’ s allowed to eat his food.
He doesn’t get a chance to work things out for himself and to make his own good decisions. External over-controlling removes opportunities for him to learn self-control. He is required to do so many things that aren’t particularly necessary or relevant, when I feel it would be best to concentrate on the very few important things like not getting any feedback whatsoever for jumping up, for learning that ‘uh-uh’ before he does something is a warning and gives him a chance to make the right decision (with reward and praise when he does so). No dog is happier than when he has to use his own brain to work for us while we quietly give him the time and space to do so – working out for himself what is required and then being rewarded.
I am a little worried about the compatibility between the sort of ‘dog training’ which they want to continue and my behavioural approach to training.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
10.09.2012
Chocolate Labrador, Hyper, Hyperactivity, Jumping up, Labrador, attention seeking, dog training, hyperactive
Not a good photo as he merged with the background and the flash gave him eyes like flashlights!
Matty is a lovely friendly little dog, six years of age. He was with the breeder for the first three years of his life and came to my clients not well socialised at all.
They have worked very hard and with great success at habituating him to real life, people, traffic and other dogs, and he is now a pleasure to walk – with the odd lapse when he sees a dog that for some reason he doesn’t like.
Recently a new child joined the family – a three year old boy, Sammy. However, Matty isn’t happy with him. There have been two mishaps. One when Matty suddenly leaped across the room, barking fiercely at the child and was fortunately intercepted by the lady, and another occasion where he grabbed his shorts. The lady, already nervous, is now on tenterhooks. In addition, there is a new baby due in a few months’ time.
The main ongoing problem has been that Matty is very reactive to all noises, on guard duty at the front door and charging around barking. He can wind himself up into a frenzy. The gentleman who works from home is finding it very hard, especially when he is talking on the phone to a customer and Matty is barking frantically in the background. Understandably Matty is shouted at which may stop him temporarily but doesn’t help him at all long term. All this barking will be raising his general stress levels, leaving him less tolerant of little boys and other dogs.
If the child is always kept away from Matty he will never learn that he’s harmless. In the same way that they have patiently socialised Matty by habituating him to real life, traffic, the town and so on, they need to do the same thing with the child – but making sure the environment is completely safe for both of them – in the same room but unable to actually make contact. Everyone must be relaxed and not fussing or on edge else Matty will pick up on it, and calm behaviour from Matty can be rewarded with food. It can be a slow process.
Matty’s humans need to take charge of the ‘perceived danger’ and barking, and help him out. A calmer dog will be much better able to cope with an active little boy.
A Christmas email, nearly three months later: “Just to let you know that we had the family here on Christmas day, my son, his partner, Sammy and the baby! All your advice has come to fruition and the pen definitely helped Matty and Sunny adjust and adapt to each other. Matty was so good with Sammy and they more or less ignored each other all day!!!We cant thank you enough for your help and advice, it definitely would never have happened without it. Your help is priceless…and so very much appreciated! We cant thank you enough….”
I can help you, too, with these problems or any others that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
06.09.2012
Barking, Barking at other dogs, Barking at sounds, Daschund, Wirehaired Daschund, aggressive to child, barking at dogs, dog and child
A couple of years ago, before I started this blog site, I visited Ben, a beautiful Red Cairn Terrier, then age 7. His (or his owners’) problem was that Ben would bite. If anyone put a hand out near him he would bite. He would catch men’s trouser legs as they walked by and he bit the vicar when he called! He is aloof and not at all affectionate – there is no cuddling him. He won’t allow it.
I worked out a plan with them and for the first two months they did brilliantly. Ben was a changed dog. Then things started to fall apart and the problems came back. I worked with them again and our final communication ended with the lady saying “We relaxed a little as Ben was so good and I thought he would keep this behaviour up.” I replied: “He will only keep up the behaviour if you do. If you go back to your old ways – so will Ben. He might even be worse.” That was the last I heard until a couple of days ago when the lady phoned to say he had bitten a lady and drawn blood, that she was afraid for children they might meet out on a walk and that they were having Ben put to sleep.
Anyway, they decided to give it one more go and I went to see them again last night. In nearly every respect they were ignoring my instructions of a couple of years ago – it was almost like I had never been or spent weeks following up and supporting them. Poor Ben was getting mixed messages – a doting lady owner and a man who, though doting also, was impatient and given to shouting.
As Victoria Stillwell says: Most dog problems have nothing to do with dogs, they are people problems. This is certainly the case with little Ben. He is looked after from time to time by a lady and Ben loves to sit on her lap. He loves her to cuddle him. He never bites when with her. At the groomers he is an angel, allowing her to touch him and pull him about. It is with his owners that he’s the problem dog.
Though Ben seems aloof and withdrawn – apart from mad barking sessions particularly if someone comes to the door, his stress is evident by his frequent air-snapping. I really so hope that this time, last chance saloon, they will consistently put in the required effort and change their ways and not just for a few weeks. It must continue for the rest of his days. It will need great patience and self-control from the gentleman, and more quietness, calm, fewer commands and less scolding from the lady. If they communicate with him properly he should soon enjoy being touched by them also.
The bottom line is, and already proven, if they carry on as they are, so will Ben. The only way to change Ben’s behaviour is to change their own. I can show them how, but I can’t do it for them!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
04.09.2012
Biting, Cairn, Cairn Terrier, biting people, put to sleep, red cairn terrier
What a lovely little dog Jack Russell Tilly is! She is friendly and biddable. She is also inclined to be excitable and a barker, but a lot of this is because her humans don’t understand her needs. They are imposing human values on her – assuming what would be important to a person is also important to a dog and often it’s completely the reverse.
The other day they received an anonymous complaint from someone living nearby, about Tilly’s barking. It’s surprising how many people I go to where the neighbours haven’t the guts to knock on the door and resort to anonymous notes. Tilly’s owners hadn’t realised that Tilly was barking so much and the last thing they want is for her to be distressed – or for neighbours to be disturbed.
The lady is of the belief that Tilly needs lots of freedom and space when they go out. She has run of the whole house, from their bedroom, down the stairs, to the sofa overlooking the front window and then out the dog flap and open access to the garden. So it is, for the hours when her people are out, she will be charging about barking at sounds. She is reactive to most noises as many Jack Russells are and she’s being given guard duty.
She will be a whole lot more settled shut in a smaller, less stimulating and more den-like area without the stresses of noisy neighbours, dogs barking, pigeons, cats teasing her from the fence and so on. Humans may feel shutting her in and away from windows is unkind, but from the dog’s perspective it is a lot kinder. She will feel safe.
Just to double-check that there are not other issues causing her to bark when she’s left alone, the teenage son will rig up his iPod to record exactly what she does when they are out. This will be easy now that she will be contained in a smaller area.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
03.09.2012
Barking, Barking at rabbits, Barking at sounds, Jack Russell, barking at the window
What a cutie! Basil is only seven months old and life isn’t always easy for him. Mainly, he’s scared of people coming to near to him or into the house and he barks like mad. First time dog owners, they have taken advice from a so-called trainer/behaviourist who advocated things like teaching him impulse control by having him on lead, putting his food down and as soon as he goes for it to jerk him back and shout Leave It. How cruel and pointless is that! Fortunately his caring owners, who only want to do the best for him, didn’t follow these instructions.
Other advice, this time from the breeder, has included using a pet-corrector when he barks both at home and on walks where he barks at people (this is punishing fear rather than getting to the root of the problem and dealing with that!). A trainer advocated forcibly controlling him on walks with a Gentle Leader not used ‘gently’. Poor Basil started to run away when the lead was brought out – and no wonder. Thankfully they also abandoned this a week ago and already Basil is happier before walks. They now need to go back to the beginning and teach him to walk comfortably on a loose lead, and then work on his apprehension of approaching people.
One very good thing in Basil’s life is he goes to a good doggy daycare once a week where he mixes with plenty of dogs and they are grouped according to size and temperament, so they don’t need to worry about his socialising with other dogs whilst they work on his lead walking.
There is another challenge for them all. They have an autistic ten-year-old whose actions must baffle Basil. She is noisy and ‘sudden’ – her actions can be random. Basil barks at her also. He needs helping out.
Let’s look at it from the perspective of a small dog. Large unpredictable humans approaching and looming, maybe shouting or moving suddenly, would scare any dog. We worked on his barking at myself and he calmed down surprisingly quickly. They could see by the way I moved slowly, didn’t go up to him, looked away and talked calmly whilst they also quietly followed certain procedures, that Basil quite soon was happy around me and taking treats. I am sure that, dealt with right and with the pressure taken off him, with the humans around him now helping him out through understanding not force, gadgets, commands or punishment, he will become more trusting and less fearful.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
02.09.2012
Miniature Schnauzer, scared of people
Molly, a Staffie-German Shepherd mix age 6, came from Battersea as a puppy. She is a very good family dog, in an environment with a lot of noise and stimulation, sparring between the men, and comings and goings in general.
She is inclined to be nervous, with noise and conflict stressing her in particular. She can’t tell the difference between play sparring and the real thing and she goes frantic, trying to break them up, whilst it causes them amusement. This mustn’t continue. She is also scared of certain people who come into the house and will bark at them quite scarily sometimes.
The main problem is that from a dog that used be fine with other dogs, she is now unpredictable and reactive. Some dogs she will hackle, growl, lunge and bark at, others she will ignore. She gets good days and she gets bad days. The reaction of her humans is inconsistent, with the men inclined to use force in the presence of other dogs. Walking is no longer a pleasure. She wants to pull, but this is prevented with constant correction and commands. I did suggest that as these methods of getting her to walk nicely have been used for six years now so they obviously don’t work!
Chilled dogs seldom are reactive to other dogs. There is a lot in Molly’s life at home that can be changed to make her more relaxed, not least her diet and the way she is fed. It is known that diet affects behaviour and Molly’s is fairly random. Lots of snacks, unhealthy stuff and sharing human food, along with low quality dog food. Too much protein can cause aggression and certain additives can cause hyperactivity. She has already been checked over by the vet - an essential first step to be as sure as possible that it’s not something physical causing the changes in her behaviour.
Today the excited family are picking up a puppy from the local rescue centre. Teddy is nearly eight weeks old and tiny – a mix between a Bichon Frise and something else. For his sake some consistent rules and boundaries need to be put in place, especially around food and Molly’s reactivity to certain callers to the house. The atmosphere surrounding the dogs at home needs to be much calmer. Molly will need a refuge from Teddy when he gets over-excited as puppies do, and for a while he will need to be kept safe from her – just in case. They have met briefly and all seemed to be fine but they will get a puppy pen to be on the safe side; the dogs can then be in the same room together and get to know one another in safety.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
29.08.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, Barking at people, Barking at visitors, Staffie German Shepherd mix, aggressive to dogs on walks, introducing new puppy
Yesterday I visited Rambo, a dear little Jack Russell and not at all suited to his name. He is now three and came from the RSPCA a year ago. Like many Jack Russells he’s very active, but a little too restless I feel. He’s obedient and affectionate and the the family loves him dearly, and the couple are doing their best to give him fair boundaries, sufficient stimulation and exercise.
He is looked after the couple’s parents during the day when they are at work, at their own house, so Rambo has two different environments, and there needs to be continuity in how he is treated. His persistent jumping up on everyone is a bit too much, but it would be very hard to stop unless everyone deals with it the same way whether family or visitors (and this isn’t by commands or scolding), otherwise it would simply confuse him and make matters worse so may be impractical in the circumstances.
Against a background of being already excitable and fairly easily scared by things at home, walks can be very stressful due to his fear of other dogs. Who knows what his past life consisted off, but his extreme reactivity to all other dogs seems to indicate that he didn’t have good experiences in the past. As soon as he sees any dog his hackles rise, he lunges and he barks. His defensive behaviour may attract the attention of off-lead dogs and if they approach him it is a nightmare. Poor Rambo, of course, is trapped on lead – it would be far too risky letting him off.
Rambo really isn’t a good name! It suggests tough and brave, but this poor little dog is plain scared. He first of all needs to learn to walk nicely (who ever sees a dog calmly walking on a loose lead, minding his own business, suddenly exploding when spotting another dog?). Avoidance of close encounters for now is key. Rambo needs lots of controlled exposure to other dogs at a sufficient distance not to worry him, whilst his owners behave in a way that convincing ‘leaders’ would. Opportunities can be engineered. ‘Where there is a will, there is a way’ as they say.
He most likely will never get to actually playing with other dogs, but being calm around them and ignoring them whilst relying on his humans to look after him would be a realistic, if long-term, goal. Things over time will slowly but surely improve if the humans stick to the plan.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
25.08.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, Jack Russell, Jumping up, Uncategorized, aggressive to dogs on walks, scared of other dogs
From my iPhone photo you really get no sense of the silky smoothness of Zoli’s coat and the loose skin waiting to be grown into! He is a ten-week-old Hungarian Viszla who now lives with people who’ve not had a dog before.
This is the message I received last week: ‘I really just want to start off on the right foot with him. He is biting, which I know puppies do but I would like to know an effective way to stop this. There are so many things and I think I am getting anxious and possibly making him the same? I would really appreciate some sensible help and advice’.
This is perfect. It is so much easier to teach a puppy from the start not to jump up, not to fly all over chairs, not to mouth and nip and to walk nicely on lead, than it is to convince an adolescent dog who has become out of control. They need to know things like just what to do when they have people for dinner, as they did last week, and Zoli flies all over them, nipping and getting out of control excited, and then creates a noisy fuss when put out of the way into his pen!
Rescue centres are full of misunderstood six to nine-month-old dogs. Humans, being human, think that being ‘firm’ and saying ‘no’ and ‘scolding’ is effective training and discipline, but that’s simply not the case. Imposing control rarely works and invites defiance later on and even sometimes aggression. A dog with self-control is happy and trustworthy.
It is important not to over-burden him with commands, play and especially exercise. A puppy needs plenty of rest and walks should be very short to allow his soft bones and joints to strengthen and grow healthily.
I shall now be here for them with help and practical advice for Zola until adulthood and beyond.
About three weeks later – things going well. “Thanks for the great advice so far it really does work but as you say it’s consistency. We had a lovely weekend with him. We had a trip up to the woods, just around the corner from here and he loved that…..He has ‘naughty’ days but he is only a baby and as I say on the whole he is very good. We love him to bits and want the best for him without him taking over. I think we are getting there definitely, thanks to you”.
Nearly two months after my visit – now 5 months old: “Yes things are going really well. I have met a group of people out on our walks and all the dogs get along great so I let Zoli off his lead around them and practice recall, which he is doing so well with, in fact I have had positive comments from other owners. He is still young and easily distracted obviously but considering this he is doing brilliantly. I am careful still around dogs he doesn’t know, keeping him on lead but he seems to be getting less over-excited with the whole thing. I take him out and try and expose him to all sorts of experiences just to de-sensitise him to the world in general…..”
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
24.08.2012
Hungarian Viszla, Viszla, puppies, puppy
At just twelve weeks old, BlahBlah is already the size of a Cocker Spaniel! In deciding whether she should be jumping on sofas and over people, one needs to consider the size she will eventually grow to be! Look at the size of those feet!
Also, because she is already so big, it’s easy to expect too much of her. At twelve weeks old toilet training is ‘work in progress’! The seven-year-old son said something very wise: how can she know what words mean if she’s not been taught (perhaps he knows the feeling!)?
I feel there is a big difference between a ‘command or order‘ and an ‘invitation or request‘. If they wanted their boy to come to them, would it be a command or a request? If they wanted him to bring them something or put something down, would it be a command or request? Would they not say thank you? Puppies respond so well to gentle requests once the action has been taught, and a thank you by way of a small piece of food for doing it. BlahBlah already had learnt Sit in the week since they have had her, but she was fast learning that it was Sit Sit Sit that was the actual command! In five minutes I had taught her Down (with no pushing) and had her Come, Sit and Down all with single gentle requests, with a treat ‘thank you’ afterwards. She is a clever girl!
While I was there she was nibbling at the cane garden table. A harsh ‘No’ sounds cross but she doesn’t understand. If shouted at she may even shout (bark) back! With a very young child one would gently say ‘no’ or ‘uh-uh‘ or ‘don’t do that’ and immediately either distract or praise for stopping. She went back to nibbling three or four times, just to check, and now this is another thing she has learnt not to do in her new home. Nibbling and chewing is a natural puppy thing and also a way of exploring, so they need a lot of legitimate things to use their mouths and teeth on. The kibble in plastic bottle is always a fun and noisy distraction (see photo)!
So, we are setting everything off in the right direction for BlahBlah and her family, and I shall go again in a few weeks when BlahBlah is ready for the next stage. So far it has just been my ‘puppy visit’. I shall continue to be there for them with other visits and help as their puppy grows to maturity.
BlahBlah must be nearly 8 months old now! “Just to let you know that Blah Blah is doing very well. Everyone always remarks on what a pleasant dog she is and she is fantastic around other dogs and children. I believe that it was the time you spent with us that allowed us to get off to such a great start and for this we are very grateful”.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
19.08.2012
Dogue de Bordeaux, puppy, puppy training
It took me a while to tell these two beautiful little dogs apart, but they are very different really. Milo is more nervous but more bossy, and Merlin is more confident but the bigger barker. Milo loves to be cuddled, but Merlin may grumble if touched or moved against his will.
Both are show dogs so they are entire. You can see how beautifully groomed Milo on the left is. The two used to play together and get on famously until, strangely, a few weeks ago their diet was changed. It was changed to raw meat, chicken wings, cooked rice and what should be an excellent diet. However, it brought out food aggression, especially over the chicken wings, and although they have been withdrawn things have never been the same since. With feeding ‘real food’, raw or cooked, it can be quite a responsibility getting the dietary balance right. It’s a known fact that too much protein can affect hyperactivity just as the additives and colourings in certain complete brands can.
All is not quite well in other respects though, so this was maybe just the catalyst. Both dogs have been obsessive lickers of carpets, sofas etc. As soon as there is any stress of any sort, they turn to licking in order to ease it – releasing the calming pheromones. It’s understandable to keep shouting at them each time they start, but we demonstrated while I was there that although they wouldn’t be distracted, by ignoring it they actually stopped a lot sooner.
The dogs are now growling at each other much of the time. Milo eyeballs and controls Merlin. Merlin growls. Milo then growls. They growl around the lady owner and around doorways. They are constantly ‘ready to go‘ as soon as they hear something outside. Barking frantically they skid across the kitchen floor in a race to get to the back door first, resulting in a scrap when they get there. Again, shouting at dogs for barking makes it worse, they could even think you are joining in with more angry noise. It’s also unfair when the dogs are doing the job they have been given. Best is to relieve them of the job!
I suggest the dogs revert to their original diet seeing as it was working well. Having chosen the highest quality dry brand available, they should avoid all the extras which have no nutritional value and upset the careful nutritional balance. Everything should be done to keep the dogs as calm as possible.
When I ask people for a list of the things that stir their dogs up, it’s surprising just how many stressful, over-exciting or over-stimulating things can be cut right down or avoided altogether.
A month has passed by: “we have seen a vast improvement since we first saw you…… they played a little last week. It was only for a minute or so but Milo was the one who instigated it, which made me really happy. I haven’t seen them play together for so long, so it was really nice – made my day and showed that we are doing the right things.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
16.08.2012
Barking, Barking at TV, Barking at sounds, West Highland Terrier, Westie, growling, licking carpet, obsessive licking
Archie’s life, from the moment he wakes in the morning, revolves around balls. He fixates on them. He has dens in the garden where he lies, staring at them.
From the moment the lady appears in the morning Archie was banging a ball into her legs until she starts to kick it about. She ‘has to’ play ball before anything else. The gentleman refuses to oblige so the whole behaviour centres around the lady. When they have guests, the gentleman talks to them while the lady kicked balls around the garden. She may throw several balls at once. We sat in the garden and I could see at least six.
It may sound ridiculous written down, but this has crept up on her gradually and to her seemed quite sensible. She is doing it out of devotion to her dog, concerned he’s getting enough exercise and stimulation.
We soon saw what happened if she ignored him! He was digging holes in the lawn, running off with bits of wood, digging up and playing with plants – anything in fact that might get attention. And it did!!
I put him on a long line and we worked on calling him away from these things and to us, rewarding him as he came (he had no choice because I drew him gently in each time) and before long he was lying spark out in the sunshine. We discussed harmless and more constructive occupations he could be offered to give him some healthy alternative activity.
To start with the lady was looking very tense. It was her belief that her dog needed constant stimulation and that she was being cruel to ignore him. She was living in constant guilt – even feeling guilty if she leaves him for a couple of hours though they have evidence that he’s perfectly OK. When they are out they have a web cam to watch him.
As she began to see things more from Archie’s point of view the lady visibly began to relax. She was beginning to see that by the constant playing and activity she was simply winding him up. Wherever she was Archie wanted balls, not the lady for herself but as a ball thrower.
On walks he would sometimes become so excited that he would circle and leap and bite at the man. It’s like he was being constantly wound up with a big key and was over-wound. There is a school of thought, encouraged by Cesar Millan (it’s possible in order to make good TV we don’t see a balance), that in order to make a dog good you have to exercise the hell out of it. Whilst I agree there are many dogs who get far too little exercise and stimulation, there are only a few breeds designed for sustained activity.
Anyway, they are going to put Archie out of the way and they are going on a ball hunt to remove all balls! There is going to be no more ball play for quite a while and then it will only be with a ball they produce and that they put away again afterwards. Meanwhile, they will try a frisbee – one Frisbee – or a ring which they won’t leave him with. Then they will look at more constructive and less stimulating pastimes for him – natural things like chewing a bone or even a sand pit for the terrier in him to dig in.
He is a really lovely natured dog, who without this constant stimulation, fuss and worry will grow into a wonderful well-balanced adult dog.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
12.08.2012
English Bull Terrier, Obsession, Obsessive compulsive behaviour, ball obsession
What – constantly on the go and gets up to mischief if ignored? You wouldn’t believe it would you! Eighteen-month old Milo is divine. He’s a cross between a Jack Russell and a Cocker Spaniel.
He can be both very naughty and extremely anxious. You can see on the right the lifted paw – this shows he is worried and he does this a lot of the time. He constantly craves attention – and he has always had a lot of it. His lady owner is at home all day and he is very dependent upon her indeed (as perhaps she is on him).
His really naughty time of day is when the gentleman comes home from work! Milo tries him to the limit and is expert at winding him up. If he doesn’t get his own way he steals something or he chews something – his bed or the carpet for instance. If told to stop he may go wild and tear up the garden with the remote in his mouth. The lady has much better control in that he may come for her, but he runs the man a merry dance of chase around the garden, scaring himself in the process, when all the man wants is to put his feet up after a busy day.
The worst impact that Milo has on their lives is that he can’t be left alone at all. They can never go out together without taking Milo too. He cries and he howls, and they find it very distressing. He is with the lady all the time, all day and in their bed at night. Little by little he needs to be taught some independence. The lady is well aware of this and has made a start already, leaving for a few minutes and recording what is happening in her absence.
Milo is getting some sort satisfaction from his ‘naughty’ behaviour else he wouldn’t be doing it. Part of it may be that it helps him to relieve the stress which has built up inside him. He is a little dog very easily frightened by big things like vehicles and by different or sudden things.
Bless him. They have tried a trainer who advocated alpha rolling him and shaking stones in his face, and they have sent him somewhere for a weekend when they had to go away – and this establishment returned him saying he would now ‘behave’. He came back much more nervous than before and scared of even beng approached with the lead.
Now they have a regime that rests easy with them – kind solutions and positive alternatives to his unwanted behaviours that given time and patience will actually work, and certain rules and boundaries that should help him grow in confidence.
Just ten days later: ‘Things are going really well here Milo is like a different dog he is so calm and seems so happy and content. In turn we are so much more relaxed, our evenings have massively improved to the point where we say to each other where is the dog and he has took himself off somewhere and is fast asleep quite happy, something he would never have done before, he used to demand attention if we were watching tv or doing anything else and would never leave our sides. Over the weekend we were in the garden pottering about, R was cutting the grass and i was in and out the house usually Milo would be by my side or in the garden near R but he was sound asleep on the top of the stairs on his own, to me this was a massive improvement as that is something he would never have done in the past. I cant thank you enough for helping us back on to the right track, Milo is so relaxed and seems so happy and in turn we are so relaxed and happy. I know we still have a very long way to go with the separation issues but I can really see the light at the end of the tunnel now and know if we keep on with the routines and instructions that it will all be ok’.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
09.08.2012
Cocker spaniel Jack Russell mix, Jack Russell Cocker Spaniel, Separation Anxiety, Separation Anxiety, manic behaviour
Alex is a young man who likes to take his five-year-old Airedale, Jesse, to the pub with him. It sounds perfect, doesn’t it. However, he has a big problem. Jessie doesn’t like people to enter her space, bend over her and touch her, and in a pub atmosphere this is sometimes hard to prevent!
The other day she bit a man she knows well. He was standing at the bar beside her owner and she was between them. All he did was casually drop his hand onto her head and suddenly her teeth were in him. As he withdrew, she bit again – as though to make sure he really was going away.
Jesse has always been uneasy about being approached, never willingly coming over for attention unless under her own terms when she wants something and the only way the man can show her affection is if he goes over to where she is lying – and then she may growl at him. The biting of people really started a while ago when someone ignored all her signals and repeatedly kept coming back to touch her. You can understand why – she looks like a big teddy bear! Eventually she was so provoked that she went for him. Unfortunately he had learning difficulties and should have been protected – as should Jesse, but telling people to back off can seem unfriendly and rude in the best of circumstances. From that time she has been a lot more unpredictable. Unheeded warnings have proved pointless, so she goes straight into the bite.
If it weren’t sad, how she treats her male owner would be quite comical. She sits with her back to him and I can only call it disdain. She ignores him. To quote him – she’s ‘indifferent’. The only times she does willingly communicate with him are to get him to jump to her tune.
Making all the decisions is no better for a dog living in a human environment than it is for a child.
I saw Jesse come to life towards the end of my visit when I called her over (she came promptly instead of the usual repeated calls followed by causal sauntering up sniffing things on the way!), and asked her to do a few things for me, quietly and just the once. She became focussed and looked very happy. I see with many dogs I visit how they love to work for someone when they understand exactly what it is they should be doing and when they find it rewarding. This is the sort of relationship the man needs with his dog. It’s easy for me because I have no past history and can start with a dog the way I mean to go on.
My expectation is for Jesse to cooperate, the owner’s expectation is to be ignored. The respective tones of voice and attitudes are self-fulfilling.
As her ‘guardian/leader’ it’s up to the owner to protect his dog from unwanted attention – and as politely as possible to be forceful. This is something I now find a lot easier than I did at his age! I am sure that when Jesse feels less defensive when people are nearby, less important and more relaxed, she will become much more tolerant of the occasional mistaken hand placed on top of her head, even if never really enjoying it.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
08.08.2012
Airedale, Biting, Biting owner, not like being touched
Until a short time ago, Rocky, a large four-year-old Ridgeback-Mastiff cross lived with his lady owner in a very small house, just one room up and one down. Now her friend has moved in with her two beautiful Siberian Huskies, female Dita, 2 and Male Esk, 3. Previously each lady had lived happily with her own dog/s and no particular problems.
What an extremely tricky and complicated situation this is. The environment, with only two rooms and no garden, is so small and crowded for three large dogs that living closely in harmony is a real challenge. Added to that, male Esk is not good with other dogs and Rocky considers this his home and territory. He now spends most of his time in the bedroom upstairs, and the Huskies well away from him, downstairs. The ladies have to operate what they call an ‘air-lock’ system to take the dogs out which needs to be done regularly because of having no garden.
There have been a couple of massive fights resulting in injury down to the bone to Esk – his shoulder and leg – you can just see some of it, and also to one of the ladies when she tried to break them up and got in the way. The wound on her arm is dreadful. None of these dogs is in any way aggressive to people. The two Huskies that we sat with downstairs were delightful with Dita showing none of her usual fears towards me, and Esk peacefully occupying the only remaining bit of floor space! Later Esk was put on lead and Rocky was brought down on lead, but with Esk eyeballing and growling across the small remaining space between them, then Rocky lunging and barking with poor Dita getting bowled over as she got in between to do her best to split things up, Rocky had to be taken back upstairs.
Add to the unhelpful environment the fact the general atmosphere, due to human health problems, is not always calm and consistent. Because of their humans’ lack of strength, the two Huskies are unable to receive sufficient exercise, stimulation and toilet trips.
The dogs are dearly loved and I know these two ladies will do your very best against the enormous odds, and I will do everything in my power to help them whilst also feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the unavoidable restrictions on the choices of action available.
Some weeks later, a lovely message on facebook from Rocky!: My Mum called in The Dog Lady to help me and my Husky friends with a wide variety of issues she has proven invaluble to us we honestly don’t know how we ever coped without her. £260 for never ending help is by far the best bragain out there, the initial consultation was so thorough and friendly that if it had been any other behavourist those 5 hours would have been covered by the £260 then it would have been another £50 for every hour after that. Others still another £150 an hour since there are 3 of us dogs here!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
07.08.2012
Husky, Ridgeback Mastiff, Siberian Husky, dog fighting, dogs fighting, fighting
Ellie is a clever, gentle, beautiful, well trained 4-year old Border Collie. She knows a large number of commands and names for various objects. She is also a perfect example of how knowing words and commands can be pretty irrelevant if she feels like ignoring them. It always works best if a dog wants to do something of his or her own free will.
Ellie can be rather aloof, bestowing her attention largely under her own terms. She can be quite demanding whilst not putting herself out in response to their demands. This is most demonstrated by her lack of recall, even indoors or from the garden. She absolutely understands what is required, but sees her owners’ wishes as irrelevant so she simply iognores them. In subtle ways she is used to making them do the running.
Where food is concerned her humans, like so many, feel they are in control (human fashion) with commands to Sit and Wait after the food is down, but because her food is always brought to her Ellie may well see it differently – like she’s being waited on. The little routine she has to go through must make no sense to her. Where is the logic of waiting after the food is down or available? Is there any animal that would do that? Waiting before it goes down is a lot more sensible – as does having to put in a bit of effort to go get it!
In some circumstances Ellie can be quite a nervous dog with some typical Collie traits. She is worried by other dogs they meet when out, and very reactive to passing large or sudden vehicles, trains on the nearby railway line and so on, wanting to lunge and chase them. No amount of traditional training or ‘controlling’ has stopped her doing this beyond preventing her through physical strength. She barks at vehicles, horses and dogs as they pass her garden. It is difficult because these things happen suddenly. Dogs react most to ‘sudden’ (as do we). A steady stream of tracters or trains would soon habituate her.
In their role of parents/leaders, her humans now need to convince her that they are there to protect her and to make the decisions,both at home and when out. Commands, telling her to Be Quiet and ‘training’ just are not doing the job. What is needed is a lot more subtle.
This is a classic example of people who have done all the ‘right’ things to give their dog a happy and fulfilled life – long walks, training, socialising, agility and so on – but where things don’t improve. The only way things will change with Ellie is if her humans change what they themselves do. The whole walking, barking, reactivity thing needs to be dealt with in an entirely different way. Instead of imposing human demands upon her, she needs a chance to work out for herself the appropriate behaviour without the distraction of commands. She needs to feel safe.
Don’t get me wrong, commands like Come, Stop, Stay and Sit all have their place, but we tend to use them willy nilly when they are inappropriate or unimportant so they lose their power when they are vital. A calm state of mind isn’t well served by commands. Silence is Golden (I think that was The Tremeloes!). A loose lead, a calm owner who takes appropriate action rather than using commands, who acts logically as a leader or parent would – and that is not to force her to Sit and Wait, trapped like a sitting duck as ‘danger’ approaches (or to march directly onwards commanding ‘Leave It’ as most traditional dog training will dictate) – will result in a more confident and trusting dog. And this brings us back to the beginning. In order to trust them with her safety, she also needs to see them as the decision-makers and protectors at home too.
There is a lot to think about to start with, but gradually if people work at it and are consistent, if they look at things from the dog’s perspective, a new way of living with a dog becomes a way of life and the dog learns self control.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
03.08.2012
Barking, Barking at birds, Barking at other dogs, Border Collie, barking at dogs, barking at horses, chasing cars, chasing horses, chasing traffic
Over the months the stress both in and between these two 9-year-old dogs has been building up.
Staffie Maddie is almost impossibly noisy, pushy, barking and jumping up when the lady owner has guests – if she is allowed to join them at all – and little Misty, a Terrier Whippet cross, is also very vocal but with more obvious fear. People can’t hear themselves speak. The way they try to calm Maddie is to do as she demands and keep stroking her as she lies beside them. Not only is it giving her a very good reason to behave like this, but also, even while she is being given the attention she’s demanding, she is getting more and more worked up!
When I initially arrived Misty came through alone and she was quiet, relaxed and sniffing. It was only when Maddie rushed in that she, too, started to bark at me. Once little Misty has stopped barking, she watches Maddie. Sometimes she shakes. Maddie intimidates her when she’s like this. See how anxious she looks.
Maddie’s stress levels are extreme much of the time. Small things set her off. This is now increasingly being redirected onto Misty and there have been a couple of incidents, one resulting in blood.
Ten days ago I went on a fascinating weekend seminar by Dr. Susan Freidman about behaviour, consequences and reinforcement. It was like she was sitting on my shoulder. The more noise Maddie makes, the more attention she gets – sometimes scolding sometimes petting – but reinforcement either way. The more anxious Misty becomes, the more attention and fussing that earns also.
As soon as the lady comes downstairs in the morning, Maddie starts the day by rushing at the gate separating her from Misty and giving her a loud, warning bark. When she comes in from the garden, she noisily demands her breakfast – which she gets. Quite simply, barking works.
Maddie excelled at dog training classes. This is another example where traditional dog training is largely irrelevant, especially if it doesn’t take into consideration the home dynamics. Commands don’t reduce stress. In fact, ‘silence is golden‘. Both dogs get a lot of excercise with lovely long country walks.
Whilst I was there Maddie was learning very quickly that the only attention she got from me was when she was still and quiet. She tried so very hard, bless her. She was distracting herself with a bit of displacement scratching and chewing in her efforts to keep calm while she was beginning to understand what was required. I, too, was learning just what level of gentle attention was enough not to break through that fine line and fired her up again. She is so eager to please and only needs to understand what is required, and then for all the humands to be consistent.
It can be so hard for us humans to break our own old habits.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
30.07.2012
Barking, Barking at visitors, Jumping up, Staff, Staffie, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, whippet
16-month-old Rudy looks more English Bull Terrier in the photo but you can see the pale Husky eyes. A beautiful dog and quite unusual looking. Because of this he attracts attention, and human attention is what he can’t handle.
Like so many of the dogs I go to, his start in life was far from ideal. From the time he left his mother and litter mates at 8 weeks old and until he was four months old, he was shut in a room all alone for hours on end, before being returned to the breeder. The most valuable weeks of his life for socialising and happily encountering many different things including lots of people, had been lost. My clients then took him on.
Rudy is terrified of people coming to the house. He barks and hackles, but is also ready to run. He may empty his bladder if approached. He has never bitten. He barks constantly when anyone he doesn’t know well comes to the house – so much that nobody can speak. Unfortunately this has led to a lot of shouting which simply makes things worse. Very unusually for him, he quietened down for me very quickly and we were able to talk after a few minutes, which goes to show how, if the visitors use the right signals and body language, don’t approach or stare at him and stay seated, if his owners too keep quiet and calm, he can be helped. He is watching me in the photo, fairly calm – but that would change quickly if I were to suddenly stand up.
The other major problem is that he is so dependent upon the presence of the lady in particular that for a year they have seldom gone out. The couple are almost prisoners in their home because they can neither have visitors nor go out and leave him.
So we have two big problems to deal with, fear of people and fear of being left. It is going to take a long time because each must be dealt with in tiny increments, a step at a time, with a lot of patience, and definitely NO SHOUTING!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
27.07.2012
English Bull Terrier, Fear of people on walks, Husky, Separation Anxiety, Separation Anxiety, fear of being left, fear of peole, scared of people
Two-year-old German Shepherd Fonz is a beautiful, friendly German Shepherd. His lady owner has worked very hard with him and is very much on his wavelength – that is until other dogs enter the equation.
He left his litter and mother too young – at six weeks old, and had a couple of early bad encounters with other dogs that was not a good start. Before he was a year old the lady had a one-to-one trainer in to help her with walking him around other dogs. No improvement.
Then, last summer, she sent him away to be ‘trained’ for three whole weeks. They advocated a choke chain and old-fashioned training methods. All was OK while he was there – he had no choice – but when he came home and his lady walked him, there was no improvement at all – in fact, if anything, his recall was worse.
This is proof to me that it’s not to do with the dog, it’s to do with the humans. What has been lacking all along has been an understanding of why he reacts so hysterically and violently to other dogs, and instead of forcing him to comply, looking at it from his point of view.
He is scared. He is certainly not a naturally aggressive or territorial dog that wants to dominate. When there is a dog about he experiences discomfort as the collar is tightened around his neck, anxious vibes from the lady zip down the lead as she beats a hasty retreat, and loud scolding and jerking as he lunges if this is left too late.
Surely the only way to conquer the fearful behaviour is to conquer his fears, and this has to be done slowly. It’s far too late for ‘socialising’. He needs to feel comfortable with the equipment used. The situation needs working at from whatever distance necessary for him not to feel threatened; his human, his owner, like a good parent or guide should be the one who teaches him confidence without pushing him beyond his threshold, without bullying, and to behave like the leader/parent she is with him in other respects. Avoiding dogs altogether for ever contains the situation but doesn’t advance it.
‘Training’ of various kinds hasn’t worked so there really is no choice but to have a totally different approach if Fonz is ever to be relaxed in the vacinity of other dogs. It will be a slow business requiring considerable patience and sensitivity which I know this lady has.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
25.07.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, Barking at other dogs, German Shepherd, aggressive to dogs on walks, barking at dogs
Yesterday evening I went to visit Bangers and Mash (don’t you love it!), brother Miniature Dachshunds age 15 months.
Mash on the left having his tummy tickled (not by me – I never got that close) is the more nervous and noisy one of the pair and despite being considerably smaller than Bangers, he controls him. He prevents him walking where he wants to go with just a stare. He will walk the long way around to avoid a doorway Mash is occupying. Mash bullies Bangers and takes all toys off him to hoard for himself.They play beautifully but occasionally, when particularly stressed by something, they have a full blown fight, with a lot of noise, sounding and looking vicious but fortunately no damage has yet been done.
The other things that cause concern is how they behave when people come to the house, and when they go out on walks. Mash instigates. When people come to the door, the two barking dogs are blocking the doorway making it hard to open, Mash almost goes for ankles in his frenzy, and sometimes they redirect their frustrations and excitement onto one another. When they seem settled they may fire up again if the person walks about.
On walks they lunge and may go hysterical when approaching people and dogs, and again may redirect onto one another if walked together.
I suspect if these little dogs had their time again, and if from the start the humans had done things differently, things would not be like this. I am convinced that in the first crucial eleven weeks when they were still with the breeder, they will not have experienced sufficient handling, different people and environments, other dogs and so on. Their owners, not knowing the importance of early varied and positive experiences, sheltered them further during the next really important weeks, with a lovely large garden to play in. Then, to ‘socialisie’ them they went to puppy classes with Bangers going ballistic at other dogs and Mash shut down and shaking. They persisted in the common belief that it would break down their fears. In my experience it does the very opposite. So this is where we are at.
Reinforcing only calm behaviour with attention, rather than reacting to noisy or anxious behaviour, is the way to start. They have plenty of visitors to practise on, so if this is handled right, over time, the dogs should become more chilled. The same goes for encountering people or dogs on walks. Pressing ahead and forcing them into situations is the same sort of thing as the puppy classes. If this sort of thing worked, then it would have done so by now. So, things need to be done completely differently. In time the two little brothers will be walked together again, nicely, not particularly reacting to other dogs and, being in a calmer state, not needing to redirect anything onto one another.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
24.07.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, Barking at people, Barking at visitors, Daschund, aggressive to people, fighting, miniature daschund
Bruno is a seven-year-old American Bulldog – quite a large dog. The story is a bit similar to the dog I went to a couple of days ago.
He, too, is protective and territorial. He is absolutely fine with other dogs, but people approaching the house or walking towards him or his owners can set him off barking, hackles up and even shaking.
I was expecting something very different when I arrived. Because of what I had been told over the phone I was expecting a dangerous dog and I took all the precautions, so when I was seated the other side of the room, I asked the gentleman to bring Bruno in on lead. Soon it was obvious that this wasn’t necessary at all! Bruno was absolutely lovely – friendly and calm (whilst also keeping a careful eye on his owners).
They have always known that Bruno was protective and have been careful, but in one careless moment when their concentration was elsewhere, Bruno was out the front as the postman walked towards the house. To his credit he didn’t actually bite – though a tooth caught the man’s skin. Bruno did all in his power to chase the man off – he reared, barked, lunged and jumped at him. His hackles were up and he sounded ferocious.
What he got for his efforts was serious trouble.
Life must seem so unfair to a dog sometimes.
At home and alone with the family, Bruno is affectionate and a wonderful pet. But – they do everything he asks and his every wish is pandered to. He eats when he wishes, he is given treats when he asks and never has to to earn anything; he has been sleeping where he wants, he gets all attention and play upon his own terms, and so on. In order to show Bruno that they don’t need protecting, they will have to show him that they are not his ‘charges’. It has to be the other way around.
It is about understanding the dog better, what makes him tick and what to do about it in ways that he understands. They absolutely adore their beautiful dog, and I know they will go that extra mile for him.
Just ten days later: “A vast improvement in Bruno’s attitude to people: Just back from a weekend down the coast with all the family. Bruno was a star! He was calm, even though our 2 year old grandson was forever stroking and talking to him. We took him out along the beach, and he never pulled once. There was a funfair and fete on the cliffs, and he walked through all the people without the slightest concern. We even had someone walk past our caravan, and he barked once, but left it to me to investigate. So the work we’re putting in is really helping him.”.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
18.07.2012
American Bulldog, Biting, Biting postman
Stonker on the left is a seven year old Staffie. Up until a couple of years ago before coming to his new home he was used as a stud dog. Bella, now six months, joined them as a puppy. Since then poor Stonker’s life has not been plagued by her.
He is a very gentle and somewhat nervous dog. He doesn’t like lots of people, noise or commotion. He can get very anxious and was panting for a lot of the time I was there.
Bella hasn’t a care in the world. She is a typical rather pushy pup. In the house she will not leave poor Stonker alone, jumping on him and trying to play fight. He is severely stressed with this, so he goes and hides. Much of the time now he’s in hiding.
When I arrived Bella was flying all over the place and trying to jump all over me. It was impossible to stop her and I don’t believe in any shouting or pointless ignored commands, so I put a light lead on her collar. It is surprising how some dogs calm down immediately even if the lead isn’t being held. Bella stopped jumping about, she left Stonker alone and very soon she gave a long sigh and lay down – as you see in the picture – something that never happens when they have visitors. I’m sure she was relieved to know where the boundaries lay.
Consequently Stonker joined us. His panting stopped and he relaxed – that is until the gentleman walked out of the room when he started panting and looking distressed again. You can see anxiety in those eyes. By their own actions and behaviour towards Stonker, his humans can help him.
Staffies have a reputation that in my mind is completely undeserved. I have been to thousands of dogs. In spite of being nervous, shy or scared, few have been aggressive – probably fewer than dogs of many other breeds. Because they are stocky, biddable and strong, and resembling fighting dogs to look at, they have been abused by idiots.
About a month later: Stonker is slowly becoming a new dog he is spending more time on the sofa and out the crate when we home bit by bit now and if he does go to hide he doesn’t stay in it like he normally would he will come in and out of it and he is panting less now. They are slowly starting to interact more the other night I was outside with them and Bella had the ball in her mouth…he got hold of the other end of the ball and they played tug of war with it both tail wagging and then after they had a little game of chase where they just ran round the garden both looked very happy. There was one night when Stonker was on the sofa Bella came up and Stonker did not run away and they both settled next to each other for about 10 mins before Bella went to pester…I see the progress they have both made. We are relaxing more ourselves now and coming home from work is more pleasurable as it not as hectic as it used to be.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
17.07.2012
Staff, Staffie, Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Here is two-year-old Rory, a German Shepherd/Husky mix. A very handsome dog! He lives in a family with two kids aged fifteen and ten.
Rory is becoming increasingly protective and this has culminated a few days ago with his biting the postman. This is very serious, not least because the law is in the process of being changed so that owners are liable whose dogs attack even on their own property (and even if the person shouldn’t be there).
From Rory’s point of view, life should be blissful but in actual fact, in his mind, he is burdened with huge responsibility. He keeps an eye on each family member’s every movement. He patrols back and forth as they move around the house, and if they settle in different rooms he places himself strategically in a central spot.
He likes to lie on the landing watching the front door. He likes to be higher. He likes to be ahead also. When someone gets up he is instantly ahead at the door, pushing through the door first.
He simply never rests when people are about until everyone is in bed, asleep – and even then he’s not off duty as he sleeps in the son’s bedroom.
Rory is reserved and slightly aloof by nature, but suddenly fires into life if someone comes up the drive or to the door – hurling himself at the door, hackles up and barking ferociously. He believes it’s his job to protect his family and the territory.
Although he is a guarding breed, in a family environment it’s not safe to have a guard dog. Moreover, it’s unfair to allow the dog to believe the job is his and then to punish or scold when he is driven to execute his job to the best of his ability. Rory needs to learn that his owners are their to protect him and not visa versa. He can be a very good burglar alarm, but he needs to know that they deal with the problem and not him.
It’s a ‘leader’ who is the protector, provider and decision-maker. Rory needs to be of this duty.
About six weeks later: “Rolf is actually doing very well, calmer, obedient and generally so much easier. My son has noticed that he does not pull when he takes him for a walk. Dog walker thinks he is an angel (biased I suspect). We are still following everything to the letter!! ……quite a few friends have commented on how much calmer he seems. We will keep going!!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
15.07.2012
Barking, Barking at other dogs, Barking at people, Barking at visitors, German Shepherd, Protective, Uncategorized, aggressive to people
You can’t see them well, but these are Kiera and Snoopy, brindled Staffies (Snoopy has a little something else in the mix). They are seven and six years old respectively, and male Snoopy joined Kiera a couple of years ago.
There are no major problems with these friendly dogs, just various things that need dealing with before the baby arrives in about six months’ time.
The couple needs to be able to trust the dogs not to jump on people; they need to be able to walk the dogs safely with a buggy – they can no longer be pulling on lead, and barking or lunging at other dogs! They need to have their bedroom to themselves, so the dogs need to be introduced to sleeping downstairs gradually, well in advance, so that they won’t feel ousted by the baby. The dogs don’t have toys any more because of the potential trouble caused by Kiera who is possessive – and this must be resolved before the baby starts to leave toys about. They had one full-blown fight over food, so they are not left with chews or treats.
When visitors come they are so excited that Snoopy tears around the furniture and not only do they both jump up, they may start to redirect their excitement onto one another which very nearly degenerates into a spat.
At the root of most of the problems is over-excitement. Kiera before food, Snoopy around sounds outside, both dogs before walks and both frantically excited when people come.
In the evenings when all is quiet and calm they settle down a treat, as you can see from the picture.
One month later: “Yesterday they settled in the office laying next to each other on the floor and fell asleep and later that day again they were laying on the sofa asleep with each other! So massive progress I was so proud of the both of them. It has all took a massive turn but we still have a way to go but the difference is amazing I am actually excited to come home and see them rather then dreading it! In the evenings when we get home Bella is so much more chilled and relaxed and Stonker in crate less now! Even though I still know that there is still improvement to be made I feel like we have come on leaps and bounds and being at home is so much more relaxing then what it was and seeing where we were and where we are now I know it will only get better and seeing that gives us even more motivation to be persistent and patient and continue with everything!”
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
12.07.2012
Staff, Staffie, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, dog and baby
Here is beautiful Jack, the 8-year-old Doberman Mix I visited about five weeks ago.
Everything at home has been going brilliantly, but I received a message saying that Jack was getting worse on walks – even more reactive to people, traffic, dogs, horses and other things – hackles up, rearing and barking. He might even go on strike. They felt he was being stubborn.
I know that if it’s being approached the right way – with some enthusiasm, and if people realise it can take a long time (not just days or even weeks) things always gradually improve. So, today I went to see them again.
This is what they were finding: Originally they were using a Halti and the only way they could get Jack past things was by using force. With the new harness I recommended he had more choice in the matter, and he was digging his heels in and refusing to budge. The gentleman could not inspire Jack – which isn’t surprising because he himself wasn’t inspired. Out in the street Jack seemed worse. He could barely hold him when dogs or horses appeared.
This is what we did: Already in place should be Loose Lead walking, practised somewhere quiet like the garden (see my demo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag9AMjJxJa8 ).
After our half-hour session this morning Jack is already a different dog. He wasn’t stubborn, he was scared. For starters I enjoy walking back and forth and communicating with the dog. To me it is a pleasure, not a bore. I do my level best to inspire the dog. I keep him busy. I do all the decision-making. He can rely upon me. You can see the progress in Jack’s body language from the first picture to the last as the gentleman copies what I did.
1) With his harness and lead attached at the chest, I tried walking him around the house. It was difficult to get him to move, and although I succeeded with a lot of encouragement, silly noises and effort, his tail was down. His ears were back. He was licking his lips. He was worried.
2) I took him to the front door but only when he was ready to come willingly, and opened it. We didn’t go out immediately – just stood there, waiting for him to relax. The lady and gentleman stayed behind in the hallway, watching. I then stepped out a couple of steps, turned around with a bit of verbal encouragement and walked straight back in through the door again. I must have done this about ten times. Now Jack was visibly relaxing – particularly as there had been nothing other than a passing car to worry about and he barely looked at it. He was beginning to trust me – just a little.
3. I now stepped out a little bit further – out beyond the driveway, and we walked back and forth within a radius of about five metres, going back indoors several times. He had started off looking very much like the top two pictures, watchful and wary. Head down. I stopped and let him look about. I turned and went back indoors and then tried again. Over and over. He began to relax – as in the third photo. I wasn’t making him confront anything that worried him. He was beginning to trust me just a little bit more..
4. Now he was ready to be pushed a little further, whilst remaining within his comfort zone. Some people were walking towards us – about two hundred yards away. Jack clocked them and I turned around and walked back indoors – then came straight back out again. They were nearer now and again I kept Jack busy, I turned away and then turned back again – all the time watching very carefully for any deterioration in his confidence. At the first sign of his fixating on anything, we turned away. By the time we finished the people were w
alking into a house across the road and Jack had stopped looking at them. TIP: It may help to walk into the dog to get him to turn away as you will physically be moving his head around. For instance, if he’s walked on the left, instead of turning right which is more natural, turn to the left and walk around him, bringing him with you.
5. Now I advanced a little further away and Jack stopped for some serious sniffing in grass. A good sign! A dog in a panic doesn’t stop to sniff the grass. I waited for him to be ready to move again and as we walked back to the house we heard horses down beyond a bend in the road – probably only a hundred yards away. Again, I kept Jack busy, kept his attention on me, and walked him into the house. I turned straight back out again and at the end of the driveway the horses were now visible. Keeping busy, I didn’t stop. I turned around and walked back in. We stayed in as the horses passed, he wasn’t ready for that, and I fed him little treats while he listened to the clip clop as they walked by -
quite calm – in order for him to associate his not reacting to horses with something pleasant. TIP: If you are by the open door or gate working on passing horses, dogs etc., hook the lead around the handle so that you can relax and everyone is safe, just in case you have misjudged it and he panics.
6. I then took him out again, keeping him busy and changing direction. He was wanting to walk now – much happier (as in the final picture). No more putting on the anchors. However, I wasn’t to be pulled. I was the one making the decisions, so we did some turning and going the other way and then started down the road opposite – the road where he knew several dogs lived. The enemies. Being Sunday morning none had actually come out which gave us a good opportunity to make progress, but Jack seemed quite chilled. He was even relaxed when cars splashed through puddles – something he normally hated – and when a loud fast car drove towards us. Then the heavens opened and we called it a day!
All this needs to be done daily, always keeping within his comfort zone whilst also pushing ahead, advance-retreat, advance-retreat.
Although no other dogs appeared, it’s exactly the same process as for horses and people. Owners so often get disheartened after a couple of weeks or even months, simply not appreciating the time it can take. The two vital ingredients are patience and enthusiasm. Meanwhile, for exercise and mental stimulation they can pop him in the car and take him somewhere open on a long line (his recall isn’t good yet) where there are unlikely to be horses and dogs.
Just see how much more confidently Jack is already walking in the final picture, after some inspiring work with the gentleman.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
07.07.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, Fear, Fear of dogs, Fear of horses, Fear of people on walks, Reactive to other dogs, calming signals, front fastening harness, how to walk past horses, how to walk past other dogs, other dogs on walks, scared of other dogs, scared of people, scared of traffic, walk
I was contacted by the Cinnamon Trust – an excellent national charity that helps people in their last years with their much loved, much needed companion animals. They asked me to help with Ben, a seven-year-old mix of probably whippet, terrier and collie,
Until four weeks ago, Ben lived with a gentleman of ninety-eight who now is in hospital and will not be able to go home again. The couple initially fostering him for what they thought was going to be just one week, will now be giving him a permanent home.
Ben is extremely attached to the lady – uncomfortably so. I am sure he has transferred his attachment to the old man onto her. Both of them, in the nicest way possible, use Ben to fulfil their own needs for love and company – and in the case of the lovely lady, to lavish with her abundance of love and warmth.
Ben simply finds it all too overwhelming and he really does his best. The lady is interacting with him constantly. They so badly want him to be happy. It’s just too much for a delicate soul like Ben. He displays classic calming signals – lip licking, yawning and tongue flicking. He is far too much the focus of attention, to the extent that, like a drug, he gets stressed when she stops. This is very unnatural for a dog.
If he can’t let the lady out of his sight in the house, there is little chance he will be happy when she goes out of the front door. He barks non-stop until someone comes home. When the lady comes home his relief is manic and overwhelming - less so for her husband. It’s rather like she is Ben’s child. He has to watch her constantly.
Ben has a wonderful home and they have a lovely dog. When he is released from quite so much responsibility and attention, and allowed to live more of a normal independent dog’s life – to stand on his own four legs – I am sure he will start to feel more secure when left alone and less worried that something dire may happen to the lady if he’s not there to watch her, or that she may not return.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
It will take time.
04.07.2012
Cinnamon Trust, Separation Anxiety
Daisy is a Labrador X. She was originally found at one year old starving, pregnant and tied to a lamp post. She has lived with her family for six years now. Until a few weeks ago she was happy, outgoing and willing.
For the past two or three months Daisy has become a different dog. She looks miserable and has shut down. She has little interest in food or play. She seldom gets up when people come home. Consequently the family are falling over themselves to humour her and wait upon her. She is the centre of much conversation and anxiety. She will sense this.
I was called out because, from a dog that never jumped up on anything, not even chairs, she has taken to jumping on window sills, kitchen surfaces and even the piano keys. This happens only when they are out or in bed. Valuables have gone flying. When they come into the room the owners are met with a panting, excited and stressed dog; frantically appeasing behaviour.
It is hard to get to the root of this for sure – but I can guess. First, I made sure she had been thoroughly checked over by the vet.
Probably, weeks or months ago, Daisy had started by creeping onto beds. In retrospect there had been evidence of this. Because there was nobody there to say ‘no’, she probably thought it was OK while she was alone. A dog isn’t going to reason things the same way as we do. She probably started to increase her activities and jump on more and more things, unchecked. Then there was an incident in the middle of the night when the TV suddenly came on loudly and the parents rushed downstairs thinking they had burglars, and Daisy was terrified. She possibly could have caused this herself by jumpng on the remote control.
The owners, who know their dog well, are convinced that she knows she’s being ‘naughty’ by jumping on things. If they are right, it’s logical to suppose she took their reaction to her excited, appeasing behaviour before they knew what was happening as endorsement for what she had been doing. Then later, out of the blue (to Daisy, and because there was damage as evidence), one day they were angry. Then another time she was smacked.
The official line is that dogs don’t feel guilt (see ‘In Defence of Dogs by John Bradshaw). They are, however, absolute experts in detecting human mood and body language. From the moment the person opens the door she will read how they feel and consequently, especially remembering previous anger, she will be grovelling, jumping up, panting and appeasing them.
The gentleman took timed photo clips one night. No panic! Daisy’s tail is relaxed and she’s not showing any signs of stress. She is systematically and calmly, without a care in the world, jumping up on things, something I’m sure that she believes she is allowed to do when she’s alone. I suspect now not only is it a habit, but because she is under so much pressure during the day by the anxiety around her and to ‘perform’, when she’s alone she feels a terrific sense of release and simply does just what she feels like doing because she can.
From a predictable life where she thought she knew what was what, things are now a puzzling mess. Humans are falling over themselves to ‘make her happy’, giving her far too much attention and deference, then being unpredictably cross with her. The more they try to bring her out, the more she withdrawn she becomes. The more withdrawn she is, the more approval she seems to receive. She will feel that they want her to be withdrawn.
Whether or not I have the details quite right, backing right off is key. Fortunately Daisy is happy in a crate so she no longer will have free run when left alone. The situation can be managed while they readjust the balance of their relationship with their dog, however long it takes.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
27.06.2012
withdrawn dog
Out of the thousands of dogs I have seen, little Pippy is the first Lancashire Heeler I’ve been to. His owners have fostered and puppy walked Hearing Dogs for years, and his current companion is a sixteen-week old Labrador/Retriever, Rosie – already twice the size of Pippy.
The people are very experienced in looking after dogs that have been bred for an easy and cooperative temperament. Pippy was already a troubled and scared pup when they got him at just a few months old. He’s now four.
Family members have been snapped at, always around something edible. His behaviour is causing increasing conflict. To quote the lady before I arrived: he is possessive, unpredictably dog aggressive, scared of men, children and laundry amongst other things. He alarm barks – a lot. She is embarrassed to have people to the house.
Pippy persistently and obsessively licks Rosie’s ears and inside her mouth. If she squeals, he doesn’t back off immediately as a well-balanced dog would.
This is a sorry state of affairs. I have seen many extreme cases but this isn’t up there with them. The situation needs to be tightly managed. He is being treated in the same way as the puppies when really restrictions need to be placed on his opportunities to do things I would find unacceptable with my own dogs. The humans need to be drinking from the same water bowl. The high level of stress in Pippy is constantly being topped up. There is a long list of things that stress him, and they can either be avoided altogether or they can be addressed in a way that helps him.
It is slighty tricky because Hearing Dogs have a training plan which is somewhat contrary to what is best for Pippy.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
25.06.2012
Hearing Dog, Hearing Dog Puppy, Lancashire Heeler, aggressive around food
Today I visited an English Bull Terrier-Staffie mix, a surprisingly small and very attractive little dog. Ivor was found as a stray about eighteen months ago at one year of age, and he now has a lovely home. Indoors, apart from being somewhat over-excited and jumping up when people come to the house, he is absolutely fine. Out on walks it’s like he doesn’t know how to behave towards other dogs. He came with scars and it’s probable his experiences of other dogs during the important formative weeks of his life were intimidating.
Because of the excessive pulling, screaming, flipping over and freaking out when they encounter other dogs, they have tried all sorts of gadgets of ‘force’ I would call them, contraptions to make Ivor unable to lunge. These include a prong collar (disapproved of and unavailable in this country), and various types of lead including an elasticated slip lead and ‘no-pull’ harness.
There are at least three dogs that Ivor is OK with, so things are probably not as bad as they seem. Just imagine how he feels when he’s out. Before the walk starts he’s wildly excited – probably not pure joy but apprehension as well, as we might feel before a bunjee jump! He charges out, pulling his strong young male owner who uses his strength to correct and control him. Ivor must be very uncomfortable indeed as he pulls on the short lead – especially if on the prong collar. He will resist the pain and become even more frantic, some of which will understandably be an automatic response to pull away from the discomfort. The lead is constantly being jerked back and he’s scolded. What a tense situation. Then, trapped on lead to a person who is getting frustrated, he sees a dog. He’s in no state of mind react appropriately, is he.
Don’t get me wrong, this little dog is dearly loved and everything else they do is kind and gentle, but the behaviour of their dog on walks, especially with pulling and ‘aggression’ towards other dogs, can drive people to despair as they try everything they can to find a solution. A dog that’s not had the right start in life needs special understanding which most people simply aren’t equipped for. He needs to be taught how to approach other dogs appropriately.
I have found over and over again that for people who are prepared to start from scratch and put in the time and effort, the walk can be transformed. Ivor needs to learn to be tuned in to the person walking him. To achieve this, the humans need to work at becoming relevant and rewarding to be with – and to be trusted to make the right decision around other dogs.
It is a step by step process, which only falls apart if people won’t spend sufficient time on each level before attempting the next, resulting in the chaos of meeting another dog too soon and unprepared. There is simply no quick fix unless it is, basically, an instrument of torture and mostly these only work short term and make things far worse in the long term. Applying certain TV programme techniques can be dangerous.
‘Socialising’ is something that can’t be done with a reactive dog. You can’t force socialising onto a dog. The first step is for the dog to simply accept other dogs nearby without reacting – then build from there in a controlled fashion.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
23.06.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, English Bull Terrier, Pulling on lead, Staffie Bully mix, Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Over time I have realised certain patterns in dog behaviour difficulties. For instance, it is unusual for a dog who walks casually and peacefully on a loose lead to be scared or aggressive towards dogs it meet on walks.
Another is that most dogs with problems relating to stress in the house mostly also have problems out on walks.
English Bull Terrier Lenny and Staffie Lyra are exceptions to this – and it applies to both dogs, which points to it being more to do with the owners’ own behaviour than their dogs’, and is testament to their owners’ better guidance skills when outside on walks. 
Lyra is extremely agitated, anxious and excited when ‘outsiders’ come into the house, (you can see her looking away when I pointed my phone at her for the photo). Initially she flies all over the place barking, and then she redirects her frustrations and energy onto Lenny, licking, chewing and goading him. He is a much calmer dog but may eventually start on her also.
It took Lyra a long time to settle down when I was there.
It’s the ‘at home’ PG (Protection and Guidance) Leadership that needs attending to. This sort of interaction which is the equivalent of human quarrelling, pushing and shoving needs to be nipped in the bud, not by using scolding or commands but by splitting them as another dog would do. They simply need to learn not to do it, and Lyra needs an acceptable replacement activity on which to unwind. It would be quite bad manners for humans to be carrying on like this when people came to the house! It may initially mean waiting for quite a while with the dogs in another room before Lyra in particular is sufficiently calm to be brought in. They also need more visitors, ‘guinea pigs’, so people visiting becomes more commonplace.
One month later: “Since your last visit our house is so much calmer, you have given me the skills & confidence to be a good leader/parent to my dogs & they are much happier now as a result of it. Visitors who have come round have ALL commented at how calm Lyla is, in fact my 4 year ‘dog phobic’ niece came on a dog walk with us on Sunday- their was NO barking & they just walked along as normal practically ignoring her. On the walk we went to town, sat outside a coffee shop & had a drink & biscuits – the dogs remained calm & just sat down quietly…. we then all came into the house where my niece fed the dogs a biscuit each. The dogs remained calm & did not jump up or bark…VERY IMPRESSED!!
Also even the barking at the window etc has now been controlled by the ‘Thank You’ technique, and the barking when we come home from work is now minimal or non existant. I have been singing your praises to anyone who listens”.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
22.06.2012
Barking at visitors, English Bull Terrier, Staff, Staffie, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, scared of people
Zorba is probably mostly a Labrador-Shepherd mix, three years of age. He was found as a stray in Crete and was brought home by a family who unfortunately couldn’t keep him because he and one of their dogs fought to the extent they had to be kept apart.
Previous to his straying he may well have had a good home. It is hard to see how otherwise he could be so polite and well trained. He will have spent considerable time in quarantine kennels and he has survived all this change very well.
However, what he seemed like initially to me and what his new family of just one month also believed him to be like, hid a different dog. He was very quiet and calm, almost withdrawn, a little aloof perhaps, and there were little signs of anxiety like lip-licking when anyone left the room. They mentioned he would never give them eye contact. The two teenage daughters found they had to work hard to raise any enthusiasm in him for play. For a young dog he seemed to lack joyfulness. It may be he was being reinforced and rewarded for holding back because of all the effort that was being put into him. Each morning they would go to him and pay homage whilst he reclined on the sofa. I suspect he wasn’t used to this sort of treatment.
From the moment I arrived I only gave him attention when I chose to – played hard to get if you like. There was no pressure on him whatsoever to react for me. Soon he was giving me lots of direct eye contact and actively working for me, doing as I ask after just one soft request – doing things they didn’t even know that he understood! I did a mock play bow and he immediately copied me and then rolled over onto his back, playfully. It’s like he came alive. It was wonderful.
Predictably the problems that they are struggling with are the meeting of other dogs on walks. In his previous home Zorba has had to protect himself from the other dog, as a stray he has had to look after himself, and all the noise of other dogs in kennels will not have helped.
With the humans in his life becoming more relevant at home – worth working for and looking to for guidance – and with calm loose lead walking gradually put in place, along with their appropriate reactions when other dogs appear, things should gradually turn around for the delightful Zorba.
He needs PG – my definition of Leadership: Protection and Guidance.
Email received two and a half months later: “We had a lovely holiday, but it really did highlight the areas of our training where we had probably been less focused than we should have. So we all committed to going home and ‘doing it right’. I feel that we had really expected too much too soon and had tried to move on too fast. Since our holiday we have really started again from first principles and I have to say, you’re absolutely right. At last we are seeing consistent improvements. We are still working on a good loose lead walk and it is so much better. We are getting a fabulous amount of eye-contact from him now, something we never had before, and he is almost a different dog. I feel that he is really with me, rather than feeling that I have ceased to exist. He is responsive and gives a lot of eye-contact.At first I found it difficult to see how loose lead walking would help with aggression to other dogs, but although he’s by no means ‘cured’, I’m beginning to get his attention far more when dogs arrive… but as long as they are far enough away, I can now get his attention and he will look at me instead. I suppose over time we will hope to be able to move closer – but I think that’s way off in the future – lots of consolidating to do first.
At home he continues to be a perfect sweetie. But – he’s starting to play – just a little bit, but it’s a start! He has just discovered that a ball can be fun. All this has happening over the last couple of weeks since we’ve been totally concentrated on small steps – coincidence or because he’s relaxing? He really didn’t care less about retrieving anything a few weeks ago, now he likes it. I don’t think I’m imagining it – he does seem to be a little bit more relaxed around the home. So excellent progress from our point of view and perhaps the main thing is by adjusting our expectations we’ve actually made progress.”
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
20.06.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, Mongrel, mixed breed
Sophie is a 7-year-old Springer Spaniel. She is stressed and hyperactive for much of the time, panting, pacing and crying. This can continue for hours and she only really settles within the confines and restrictions of her crate. It can be very tiring for her family. Sophie is also friendly and gentle. She’s adorable but for some reason troubled. Possibly some of it is genetic as apparently she was even worse when she was younger and they have had help from two or three trainers over the years. Instead of improving she is now getting worse.
Because out on walks she has taken to literally screaming and lunging whenever she sees one of the many cats in the neighbourhood or other dogs, and because her pulling on lead is such a strain, she no longer is taken on walks. All that ‘training’, along with having tried most gadgets they can get such as head halters, various leads and harnesses, has not stopped Sophie pulling. This is because she still wants to pull! I would be willing to guarantee, if they put in the time and effort to do it my way, that she will eventually be walking nicely and willingly beside them on a loose lead, not wanting to pull. I have many many successful cases to prove this. Time and patience are the two operative words – along with knowing the technique. Sophie now is taken out so seldom that the outside world is simply a sensory overload of smells, action, sounds and potential danger.
Calm walks don’t start at the door, they start with a calm dog at home who has impulse control before encountering all the added stimulation of the outside world – so at home is where it starts. Sophie’s stress levels need to be reduced dramatically and she needs to learn to focus on her owners and what they are asking of her. To achieve this, they will need to earn her respect and attention by how they themselves behave with her.
Sophie is a clever dog but a frustrated dog, with no outlet for her energy or her brains. This will now change (I hope).
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
15.06.2012
Pulling on lead, Springer Spaniel, Stress, hyperactive, stressed
Here is Jet – yawning. He’s feeling a bit uneasy in the presence of their other black German Shepherd Max who is just out of the picture. Max is blind, just a year old, and they have had him for just a few days.
After a promising start, things have deteriorated between the two dogs who have now had four fights – each one worse than the one before ending with a visit to the vet for Max. For the past two days they have been kept completely apart, their first reuniting when I was there.. They were both soon lying down, seemingly relaxed, so I feel things haven’t yet gone too far.
The big problem is that the two dogs don’t understand one another. Jet will be giving all the right signals and body language that he wants to be left alone, but of course Max can’t read them. Jet can’t know this. Max, on the other hand, tries to use Jet as his eyes, following right behind him which Jet doesn’t like. Max started nipping him or maybe he was just grabbing onto him – perhaps because Jet wasn’t doing what he wanted – and eventually, having warned him with signals and growling, Jet turned. Other fights followed.
Outside the house Max is terrified of every sound, resulting in hackling, barking and even grabbing quite aggressively. He has no idea where he is. For this reason the first thing they must do is to allow Max to gain his bearings and a sort of mental map of first his garden, and then very gradually, outside the front of the house. This responsibility is with the humans not with Jet, so he needs a lot of walking alone on lead around the place. He sometimes loses the door in from the garden, so I suggest they put something scented near or on it.
For now the dogs will only be together when their baby is in bed and they both are on hand. Both should be trailing a short lead and everything should be calm. At the first sign of tension, someone needs to walk or stand between the dogs, splitting them up – just as another dog would do. Poor Max has been passed between about five different people in the past few weeks, which would be bad enough for a dog with eyes, let alone a blind dog.
I hope, taking it slowly, that they can help these two dogs to understand one another, help Jet to be tolerant, and help Max to be more independent, so that they can all get along happily. It is a small house and keeping the dogs apart and taking them separately to the garden is complicated. It goes without saying that their dear little girl is their number one priority.
This photo of one of Max’ eyes is interesting. You wouldn’t know he was blind to look at him. I took it close up using flash. Most dogs’ eyes would glow white because to give good twilight vision they possess a light-reflecting surface known as the tapetum lucidum which operates like a mirror.
The next day I received a phone call. For the safety of their little girl they have decided to return Max to the the rescue. I agree that this is wise and must admit the situation worried me. Good rescue organisations do home checks before placing a dog. Whilst this couple would be ideal if they didn’t have a toddler, it’s not the right environment. He will now go back into foster. I do so hope a forever home is found for Max with someone experienced andwith no children, where he is the only dog. In his short life this blind dog has had to adjust to seven or more different homes, and it’s testament to his basic sound temperament that he is so friendly.
14.06.2012
Blind dog, German Shepherd, Uncategorized, black german shepherd, fighting
Bertie is a big dog in a little dog’s body!
These pictures tell a story. When I arrived he was jumping at me. We all sat down with the idea of waiting until he was calm before I would greet him, but he barked at me and tried to jump on me, and then at his lady and gentleman, in order to get attention. Even to be told to stop or shouted at would have constituted attention, and he wasn’t getting it. Bertie barked. Bertie barked.
Their usual method of say ‘No Bark’ didn’t work (seldom does apparently). He had brief breaks and then came back and started again. After an hour or so of ear-piercing noise, having tried different tactics, we tried putting him calmly in the crate in which he slept at night and covering it. Quiet at last! We repeated this many times letting him out, barking started, and putting him back in. Soon he was welcoming his new behaviour boundaries and some meaningful leadership. Then, eventually, he went to his bed and relaxed, a happy dog.
Bertie simply isn’t accustomed to not being obeyed. One of the main reasons I was called was that he wouldn’t come in from the garden. Why should he? He runs them a merry dance, ducking and diving and hiding under the car while they try to fish him out. Not so funny at midnight in dressing gowns and wanting to go to bed! Bertie is very good at demanding attention when he wants it, but not good at doing what they want! So – leadership/dog ‘parenting’ skills are needed.
He is well trained so far as understanding commands is concerned, but understanding is one thing, obeying is another. A little tiny dog can so easily run rings around tall humans!
Most people with the best will in the world are trying to do right by their dog by ‘training’ it; however, using traditional training methods or ideas may not work because they are approaching training from a human perspective and human values which mean diddly squat to any intelligent dog. They need to learn to think like a dog and approach training from a dog’s perspective, and then eventually they will have a wonderful animal that chooses to work with them of its own free will.
Basically, if Bertie knows they want him to do something, that is his reason for not doing it!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
04.06.2012
Barking, Barking at people, Barking for attention, Patterdale, Uncategorized
A coincidence! Only yesterday I visited Blue Merle Sheltie Robbie, and today a larger version - seven-month-old Blue Merle Rough Collie, Jasper. He moved in with cute little Terrier Lou’s family a few weeks ago. Lou is two years of age.
The dogs get on very well for the most part, but little Lou, who, being little trouble, has been accustomed to having everything to himself and largely doing as he likes, is becoming increasingly possessive around chews and certain toys, and Robbie is now challenging him.
This is now happening when the lady owner is making a fuss of one of the dogs – it’s like she, too, is a resource that the dogs are quarrelling over! They have three young boys, and Lou is likely to growl and snap if they pick him up or try to move him when he doesn’t want to be moved.
Getting a second dog can make a very big difference – more than double trouble sometimes! The order of things needs to be changed. Robbie, at the age of seven months old, is starting to ‘try it on’. He is also a little fearful of new people and some other things, so needs to grow up with the reassurance of firm leadership. Lou in particular needs leadership. It is asking for trouble when young children physically make a dog do something he doesn’t want to do by picking him up or dragging him. Willing cooperation needs to be worked on whilst his personal space should be respected.
Once things start going in the wrong direction between two dogs, when they start to fall out over resources, it usually gets worse if nothing is done, and it’s the humans’ own behaviour that needs changing. Any ‘contact sports‘ play needs to be interrupted very early on and I have shown them the best way to do this – just as another, stable, dog would do it to keep the peace.
I’m sure things will calm down soon so long as they are consistent, and then I shall be helping them to achieve more enjoyable walking.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
03.06.2012
Blue Merle Rough Haired Collie
Eight-year-old Robbie spent the first seven and a half years of his life never outside a utility room and garden, with virtually no human company. Six months ago his previous owner went into a home and Robbie then came to his new owners.
Just imagine how scared he must have been encountering everyday things, people and other dogs. They have come a very long way with him in six months, but have met a plateau, hence my visit.
Since all his life after leaving his litter Robbie has been within the same four walls, just with open door to a garden, it’s not surprising that the only place he is really comfortable is indoors, in the house. He is just OK in the garden if the door is open and he can beat a retreat if something scares him – like next door’s dog barking. He would prefer to be alone indoors than out in the garden with his owners. Out on walks, if panicked, it’s like he doesn’t even know them any more. He just wants to get home.
They have work to do – because he needs to look to them for protection and guidance. They need to win his trust. At present all he really trusts is the safe environment of home.
He really is the most gorgeous, gentle little dog. Sadly, he is very arthritic at a relatively young age and is on a mixture of medication so he has discomfort to contend with also.
Out on walks Robbie is permanently uneasy and looking about and behind. As they approach the main road he is near panic, but like many people they have believed that it is necessary to keep going. If he sees another dog or a vehicle spooks him, he is twisting around on his lead and wanting to bolt. Naturally, the lead will be causing pain to his neck and this negative association with other dogs can’t be good.
I believe it’s now a case of backing off and starting again. First and foremost, he needs to be able to walk around near the house with no traffic or dogs or people in a calm and happy way, sniffing and exploring doggy fashion, before they can go any further. This could take a while. Then things need to be introduced very slowly indeed, all the while not stepping over his threshold of tolerance. How the owners behave is key. Robbie’s instinct is to bolt, and failing that, to freeze. Would a wise parent force his family into trouble if it could be avoided? No! They need to earn Robbie’s trust before they will make any real progress.
They will get there, I’m sure, but it will take time. Although they have already come a long way, you can’t undo eight years in a few weeks.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
01.06.2012
Scared, Uncategorized, scared of other dogs, scared of people, scared of traffic, scared of vet
Jack is a large Doberman X aged about eight, and Winston is a Staffie/Chocolate Labrador mix or eighteen months. Beautiful, friendly dogs.
Jack had several homes before his present owner, and poor Winston had been kennelled from about six weeks old until he moved in with them at a year old. Considering this very unsatisfactory start in life, he is brilliant. With both dogs there are some problems that need ironing out, but the most dramatic is the barking at the window at the frequently passing dogs.
Barking and guard duty can be very stressful to a dog. Winston is a compulsive licker – licking people, chairs, the carpet – anything; he grabs ankles when people move about and when stressed he may either hump people or redirect onto Jack. So far there have been no major issues between the dogs, but it’s probably only a matter of time before Jack stands up for himself. Jack takes out his frustration and stress on his bed – humping that.
As there is nowhere for the dogs to go apart from at the front of the house, in addition to reacting to the barking in an appropriate fashion the only solution is to somehow make it impossible for them to see out – especially when the couple are out at work and not around to help the dogs. Jack is very tall, and Winston climbs onto something. He sometimes charges at the window like a battering ram and it’s only a matter of time before the window smashes and both dogs are out in the road.
The plan now is to get rid of as much stress from the dogs’ lives as possible and to keep things between the two of them well under control. Walks will eventually be a lot more pleasant with calmer dogs on loose leads , but this will take a considerable length of time.
I can tell already that the couple will have the patience and commitment to see this through. They have already come a long way with these two great dogs.
I visited five weeks later. the barking at the window has stopped altogether, aided with plastic covering on the bottom half that looks like frosted glass. They were struggling with Jack’s walks. See the story of my revisit and what we did.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
30.05.2012
Barking, Barking at other dogs, barking at dogs, barking at the window, compulsive behaviour, humping
If little Tilly lay on a sheepskin rug one could easily trip over her! She is an eleven-year-old Havanese who came to live in her new home about fifteen months ago. Her new owners worship her. It can be hard when you’ve not had a dog before, and believe you are doing the best for your dog.
With the thousands of dogs I have been to, I have never met a Havanese before. The reason could be twofold – that they are rare and also that they well adapted to living as companion dogs.
A Havanese is the national dog of Cuba, considered an ideal family pet. They don’t like being left alone. Tilly is very distressed indeed when the lady in particular ‘deserts her’. In fact, she has become progressively worse over the past year or so, confirming that it’s the human behaviour we need to look at (as usual;).
All dogs can be acclimatised to short periods alone if it’s done correctly – even the less independent breeds. Tilly is waited on hand and foot - by the gentleman in particular, a warm and loving man. He is up and down following her about and seeing to her every whim, constantly touching her and fretting. The lady is over-anxious about Tilly’s happiness and welfare, and at times the little dog is the centre of constant care, attention, petting and anxiety. This isn’t good for her.
Tilly will be asking to go out and when the door is opened refuse to go! When they themselves want her to go out, extreme measures are used to entice her to go, a treat trail along the floor or hyping her up with ‘CATS’! She will only do things under her own terms. She jumps onto them every time she wishes, but if asked to come she refuses and turns her back. She licks the gentleman constantly. It is all too much and it makes her stressed.
Tilly is inseparable from the lady and follows her wherever she goes. When the lady is there she refuses to have anything to do with gentleman – unless it’s to jump on his lap and lick him obsessively. This is a recipe for separation issues when they go out. The gentleman is at work all day, but the lady simply has to go out from time to time. It needs to be worked at gradually, with comings and going being a lot more matter-of-fact. Tilly has to learn that whenever the lady goes out of sight she always comes back.
This little dog is severely stressed by being the chief decision-maker and centre of the universe. Like many people, what they think is kind actually is not at all. Many things need to be the very opposite of what a kind and loving human may be doing. Welcomes need to be casual, touching and petting needs to be rationed, the dog shouldn’t be obeyed every time, food should be offered but the dog shouldn’t be begged to eat or hand-fed. They worry that she’s not happy if she’s simply away from them, lying quietly.
Humans really shouldn’t be at the constant beck and call of a dog. A dog needs a few consistent rules and boundaries; it doesn’t need servants or slaves.
If that dog were a child, she would be showing signs of insecurity for sure. They love Tilly dearly and are up for the self-sacrifice needed for the happiness of their little dog.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
29.05.2012
Havanese, Separation Anxiety, spoilt dog
Maya is another little dog over from Ireland, with nothing at all known about her past. She is now five months old and she has been in her new home for a month. You can see how beautiful she is, and can perhaps wonder as to what breeds contribute to her makeup.
I would guess that in the most important weeks of her early life she wasn’t exposed to people, everyday things like vacuum cleaners and possibly other dogs. She has a lot to get used to. She is very scared when people visit, barking and backing away. On the left you can see her hanging back, her puppy curiosity trying to get the better of her wariness!
Dogs like this need habituation, a lot of exposure to people in a controlled and rewarding way – stuff puppies should have had plenty of by twelve weeks of age. People now should put no pressure on her at all – no eye contact and no attempts to ‘make friends’. She needs to be given time.
One problem they have is that she won’t come indoors when called. My German Shepherd Milly had a similar – probably much worse – start in life, and I found that sometimes when I called her towards me it’s like she couldn’t handle the pressure. It wasn’t defiance. If I was very casual and turned away, gave her space and didn’t keep calling her, she would come.
Understandably, Maya’s very loving owners are doing everything that they, with their human heads on, think will make Maya more confident. This involves opening up boundaries and giving her constant company – day and night. This can unfortunately have the reverse effect and lead to a dog becoming more vulnerable when what she really needs is to learn to stand on her own feet and to be independent. Maya has now started barking fearfully at sounds she hears outside so she needs good, steady parenting/leadership – to be able to trust them to keep her safe.
Maya is a delightful, well-behaved, gentle puppy with no toileting indoors and very little chewing (perhaps some digging in the garden)! She is a gift and has landed firmly on her little feet with people who want to do the very best for her.
About 10 weeks later: ‘Have had the plumber in, the washing machine engineer in, no problems at all, had a sniff, wagged her tail and went away minding her own business. The other day, the loft insulation chap came and she went and sniffed around his legs, wagged her tail and went-off into the garden, no yapping, no barking. Used to go barking mad when the postman dropped post through the letterbox, and that has now turned into a little yap and that’s it! And in the park, she is no longer frightened of people, although she holds back at time and if invited, will then go to them, but with a little holding back, but definitely much, much better!
An amazing change, is coming when called at home and especially in the park, both times, morning and evening. No problems what so ever! She disappears into the woods and immediately out of sight, blow the whistle and she comes back like the clappers. She runs off towards another dog in the distance, blow the whistle and her direction changes and she comes belting back like a racehorse! Just unbelieveable! She is right in the middle of a pack of dogs playing, start walking away, blow the whistle and she comes rushing back! So with your help and the all-mighty’s grace, the two daily walks in the park are a pleasure for all parties concerned”.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
26.05.2012
Scared, running off, scared puppy
Merlin, the Great Dane, is a powerful thirteen-month-old adolescent. He is a bit of a canine hoodie, ambushing and going for poor Red Setter Blue and wanting to control everything around him.
More worryingly, he has started to bully other dogs on walks. He will body slam into them, knock them over, stand over them and even pin them down, but he chooses his victims wisely. They are usually older or more timid dogs. A typical teenage bully!
Don’t get me wrong – he is a gorgeous, intelligent dog with great potential, but he has an attitude problem – some of the time. He is supremely confident and fearless. ‘Brought up’ right by consistent and firm humans, he will be a wonderful adult dog.
Another area that is creating difficulties is that, like many people, Merlin and Blue’s owners believe the best life for dogs is to have lots of freedom and uncontrolled access to a large garden. Whilst they have their own area indoors, the door is open most of the time, all the year round. As Merlin has got older, guarding tendencies have kicked in. Visitors sometimes have to run the gauntlet of the dogs when they open the gate; Merlin has pinned someone to the fence. I have found in many cases that dogs can become a bit wild, uncontrolled and territorial when given open space and lack of boundaries.
Setter Blue can be an agitated and restless dog, and this stirs Merlin up. When Blue is able to relax and settle down it should help the whole situation.
‘Training’ as such is lost on Merlin, because although he understand the commands perfectly well, if he doesn’t feel like cooperating there is little anyone can do! He’s huge. He ignores his owners because he believes what he wants is more important, especially when he is engaged in putting another dog in its place. So, they need to work on becoming MORE IMPORTANT in the eyes of Merlin – through leadership and using more of a psychological approach. There are, after all, ways of getting a teenager to tidy his room – but commanding him to go and do it straight away probably invites refusal! Then what? So it is with wilful dogs. There are ways!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
25.05.2012
Great Dane, Red Setter
Poor Roxy is just ten months old, and probably a Labrador-Pit Bull cross.
She had been living in one room, surrounded feces and urine, and the gentleman found her with two dogs he describes as ‘fighting dogs’ that intimidated her to staying in her corner. She is now living with a couple and their two-year-old son, and the adjustment is enormous. She is scared and confused. They have bathed her twice which terrifies her, and the water is still filthy.
She only poos once a day – on the sitting room rug. She holds it until she is alone at night. This is hardly surprising when all her life she has done it indoors, and because her new owners scolded her (she would immediately cower). She will be waiting until she’s all alone and nobody is looking. She won’t toilet on walks or in the garden (she won’t go outside alone).
Outside she is surprisingly calm unless approached by a person or until she sees another dog, when understandably she is very reactive. She has had no experience of normal dog to dog interaction. She will rear up, snarl, hackle and lunge.
I have started them off with ‘homework’ for a fortnight and shall go again. They need to start somewhere and the basics are gaining Roxy’s confidence, which isn’t done either by over-compensating as the were doing or disciplining her with a cross voice. She is super-sensitive and already showing signs of becoming overly attached to the gentleman, leading to possessiveness and growling. The toileting needs approaching in the right way, as does encountering other dogs on walks.
Roxy has had no healthy interactions with either humans or dogs, though I do wonder whether her very early days might have been different as she could actually be far worse. That is a tragic thought. You can see in the first photo she’s doing a deliberate ‘look-away‘, showing her uneasiness at people looking at her.
The very first priority is a dog gate for the kitchen doorway. This will solve a lot of problems. Night time toileting will be on a washable floor, she will feel safe away from the’ barking chair’ at the front window and, most importantly, she can be separated from their two-year-old son if necessary.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
21.05.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, Labrador/Pit Bull, Pit Bull, Scared, Toiletting indoors, scared of other dogs, scared of people, toilet training
French Bulldog Louis and Bulldog/Chihuahua cross Gizmo had, until a few weeks ago, an orderly, quiet and predictable life. They got on well together and never showed aggression.
Then things began to change when their lady owner met her partner. They started to have new environments to cope with, and new people.
Two weeks ago the couple moved into their new house together and it’s like Gizmo and Louis have simply fallen apart. Mistakenly thinking that giving them lots of space while they were out, involving them with all the people who came and giving lots of extra fuss would help them over the change, in fact it’s done the opposite. They are feeling insecure and scared, Gizmo in particular.
The dogs have had to cope with constant comings and goings, deliveries and even a party. Gizmo now is barking at people who come in, attacking their legs and its getting worse by the day. There is constant tension between the two dogs, resulting in a couple of fights.
These dogs are no longer the happy dogs they used to be.
They will now be given their own gated little room, their ‘den‘, as a refuge from visitors and somewhere they can feel safe when left during the day – like they had been used to previously – rather than run of a large area involving guarding and look-out responsibilities. Everything is going to be done to reduce their stress levels. Eyeballing between the dogs will be intercepted.
I am sure that, given time and patience, they will settle down.
Ten days later: ‘ Both dogs seem to be responding surprisingly well to all of the new tips and rules. We don’t appear to have any rebelling yet so I am keeping my eye open for that……..We are feeling much more calm and the tension in the house is almost gone. The change has been very quick and very noticable in a short space of time. We are really looking forward to the continuing with everything you have taught us’.
A couple of months later: “First of all thank you for all of your guidance so far, the calm in our home and amongst the family is priceless and we are moving a step forward every day. We are able to enjoy the dogs as part of the family once again and that was our ultimate goal. they are happy dogs once again. Knowing you are there for advice takes a lot of the stress away too”.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
18.05.2012
Bullhuahua, French Bulldog, Stress, fighting
William is a three-year-old Lurcher, or maybe a Greyhound, who came from Battersea Dog’s Home at four months old. He is inclined to get very excited, very easily. For some of the time two Staffies stay in the same house, and neither are calm dogs, one plays rather too roughly (William isn’t innocent as he usually provokes him) and the other is not a good influence, with plenty of snarling and baring of teeth.
A bit like a teenager that has got in with the wrong friends, I feel that much of William’s behaviour has been influenced by them. He has not been learning polite dog-to-dog language and behaviour. He has not practised normal polite interaction and play with other dogs.
The owners’ dream is to be able to take William for walks in the park and go on holiday with him, but when he sees another dog he is so wild with excitement and fired up with anxiety, made worse by the reaction of the humans, that he is rearing, lunging and screaming. He has never attacked another dog, just been pushy and over-excited. Never aggressive.
The most shocking thing is that the lady, in her very best efforts to give her Battersea dog a good life, has had three people in to help her with her lovely dog. One gave her a prong collar and the other an electric collar. I’m relieved that she never used the e-collar, but just imagine the prongs of the other collar on a skinny Greyhound neck.
The way to reverse a particular behaviour is to get to the cause of it and deal with that, not to inflict pain or fear.
William isn’t an aggressive dog but he just lacks manners and experience. He needs working on, alone. Much of the human response when he’s been confronted with another dog will have made things worse. It is tragic, because a dog owner who wants to do the very best for their dog has in good faith called in ‘experts’ and basically been told to torture him. I feel that they are now very relieved.
Gradual but controlled exposure to other dogs at a comfortable distance, with owners who react appropriately, like proper Leaders and not bullies, will bring things around for William and his family, but it could take quite a long time.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
17.05.2012
Lurcher, Reactive to other dogs, greyhound
Sixteen-month-old Mia certainly knows she’s wonderful! What a confident dog!
In the morning when her lady owner comes downstairs, Mia will open one eye and beckon with her paw as if to say ‘You may come here’!
The lady will then go over to her, get down on the floor and make a big fuss of her. Homage! People often just don’t realise how much their dog controls them until they see it through the eyes of somebody objective like myself.
Mia is adolescent. She has just had her first season and she is becoming a bit of a bully with some other dogs, especially smaller, less confident ones. This has escalated and for the first time she has bitten one. Her owner is devastated, because she has put a lot of effort into socialising and training Mia who has been very popular in the area until recently.
In the nicest way possible Mia needs to be brought down a peg or two without the use of confrontation. If a command is used and she is defiant and refuses, what next? If they back down they have lost, and if they try to insist they risk making her angry. She needs to be eager to cooperate.
At present every resource belongs to Mia, and it’s obvious she considers her lady owner to be a resource also. She objects when one of the young daughters wants a cuddle. She will grumble when one of them walks past her bed. Depending upon her mood, she may grumble when someone comes near her while she has a chew. She has become very touchy when one of the girls grabs her around her neck to cuddle her.
I suggest that now nobody invades Mia’s personal space, either upon her invitation or not, but that she also is encouraged to respect the personal space of her humans. We don’t want to reduce her confidence in any way but she is beginning to show some instability. She is too powerful to be allowed to rule the roost. For her to become respectful and controllable out on walks with both people and dogs, she needs to be respectful and controllable at home. In many ways Mia is a credit to her owner, but this goes a lot deeper than ‘training’. Knowing what is required of her is one thing, but whether she willingly does it or not is another! She is a teenager after all.
Once again, it’s about parenting and leadership. In Mia’s opinion, just who is the real leader and decision maker in this family? I think we know!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
16.05.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, Alaskan Malamute, Biting, growling
Here is Rosie, a two-year-old Jack Russell re-homed from Wood Green a couple of weeks ago.
She has landed on her feet with a lady who is very empathetic to her needs and who instinctively understands the balance between loving Rosie and giving her space.
Previously Rosie had been living much of the time in a crate, muzzled. Because of how she drinks water in a strange way with her head on one side, she must have worn the tight muzzle for a long time.
She is an extremely well-behaved little dog when not stressed. She’s not demanding, she is polite around food, she doesn’t bark at passers by, she can be left alone without crying, she never damages things, she never toilets in the house and, as you can see, she is beautiful!
However, she is very scared of people. She barks frantically at anyone coming into her house and has now nipped a guest. When I arrived she was barking and growling from behind the gate. We worked on this until, by the end, I was walking around the room without a reaction. You can see she was now quite relaxed!
She needs to be gradually desensitised. They need plenty of callers who are willing to behave exactly as requested, friends popping in for half an hour whilst the lady follows our plan. There is a thin line between pushing Rosie beyond what she can cope with, whilst stretching her a little. I know her new owner will be getting this right.
Rosie has similar problems when encountering people out on walks, and dogs. She’s not consistent however. She is worse at the end of a walk – an indication that the walk is too stimulating or too long.
With work, patience and given sufficient time, I am sure that Rosie will eventually be happy for people to come into the house and that outside she will not react adversely to people and other dogs.
Here is an email I have recived two days later: ‘Now, a remarkable walk this morning. I put Rosie on a long lead like the one you showed me. I held it loose and Rosie did not pull. As we got to the end of the Chinese Bridge we were approached by two people and two greyhounds. Still on the loose lead Rosie did not show any calming signals. As we got nearer she did then prick up her ears and so I did the arc movement. Amazing, she then walked past the dogs without looking at them!! … I kept her on the loose lead whilst we walked. Two dogs in the distance both on long leads. She showed no interest. When they had gone, I let her off the lead and we played with a frisbee type toy. … as you suggested I called come and each time she came I rewarded her for the ‘come’ rather than asking her to sit. It works!! Heading back home we came across two more dogs, both on long leads. Rosie seemed calmer and only ‘looked’ and as she moved forward again I used the arc movement. Miraculous. I know it is early days, but I cannot even explain how much better this makes me feel. It is so demoralizing to have an aggressive dog, but today was a pleasure’. I replied to be prepared for there to be many lapses. It would indeed be an unusual miracle if a permanent corner were turned quite so easily, but you never know, a combination of appropriate strategies and the lady’s own karma may be the perfect mix!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
15.05.2012
Barking at people, Jack Russell, muzzled, nipping, scared of other dogs, scared of people
During the whole time that I was there, poor little two year old Cairn Terrier Charlie never settled.
First of all, my arrival stirred him up. He did a lot of jumping up. Then he started looking for shadows and reflections and was obessively chasing them barking and growling at them. He was very restless all evening. He even had to be held still so I could take a photo of him.
Charlie had always been a rather highly strung little dog but a few weeks ago his behaviour took a turn for the worse. He started to behave in a very agitated manner. He also felt threatened when two people had leaned over him to touch him so he bit them. This was entirely out of character.
It seems that the main change in his life was that instead of being shut safely in his crate during the day when they were out, and during the night – something he had been used since he was a puppy, they decided he would be happy with more space, so gave him the run of much of the downstairs. During the day he was now very likely to be watching out of the window, barking at birds and cats and getting himself into a state. Very likely he no longer felt safe.
Looking back couple of months earlier, he had been encouraged to chase a laser beam in play and this could well have been the start of his obsessive behaviour. It is surprising just how quickly a dog can start something like this. As his general stress levels had been rising it manifested itself in shadow chasing.
Most dogs need 17 to 18 hours sleep a day. Imagine that the little dog now is on patrol for most of the day and then, when the family comes home, he is wild with excitement and only settles in the late evening. We know how we ourselves feel when we are sleep deprived, don’t we. He is much more likely to be touchy and scared when someone looms over him and puts their hand out on top of him, something which to a dog can seem like threatening bad manners. We also forget that a little dog only sees somebody up to about knee level and so they will be relying upon their noses, and the first person he bit smelt of cats, one of Charlie’s pet hates.
So they will now reintroduce the crate. I’m sure when they reduce his stress levels the shadow chasing will stop, meanwhile they will use distraction and maybe brief time out for the peace of his crate where he loves to be.
Human visitors will need to be taught how to touch him and not to loom over him. I am sure this is just a temporary thing. When a dog bites and is met with anger, which to the dog must seem like unreasonable aggression on our part, he is much more likely to bite again. I know that to us it seems like we are condoning the behaviour if we don’t punish the dog, but it is far better to keep calm and simply remove him from the situation. Then try to get to the bottom of what is really happening.
The underlying problem needs to be sorted if the matter is not to escalate. In any sudden change in behaviour, a vet needs to be consulted to make sure there isn’t physical problem.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
14.05.2012
Barking at Cats, Biting, Cairn Terrier, Doig Crate, Shadow Chasing
Li
ttle
Jack is ten years old and lives with Jill who is also ten.
They are both very good little dogs as far as obedience is concerned, but both, Jack in particular, is troubled. Although both dogs have a very good life with a loving and sensible owner, it is possible that something in the past is overshadowing their present life, because their change in behaviour coincided with that particular time.
Jack is unsettled and this is manifesting itself in regularly marking and peeing indoors, in growling when he is made to do something and by compulsively licking himself. There are one or two people he is scared of to the point of aggression.
He looks relaxed on the right, as he was when I took the photo, but one can see his red and sore front due to the obsessive licking.
Jill also is stressed but to a lesser extent. They may be left alone for a long time and bark and cry intermittently throughout the day.
We looked at all the possible causes of stress in the little dogs’ life at the moment – and this includes anything that stirs them up in
any way, and the list can be surprisingly long. Here are some of them: being left alone, post coming through the door, scolding, being told off and commands, humans being cross, Jill obsessively licking Jack, Jack persistently licking or humping Jill, Jack chewing and licking himself and being told off, behaviour of visitors and family, going to other houses, vacuum cleaner, excitement before walks or going in the car, discomfort and tension when being walked on lead, agility classes, obsessive ball play, barking itself increases stress, constant jingling of collar tags.
So we are finding ways of reducing stress in every way possible. Being consistent is essential. Using encouragement and reward rather than commands and scolding is also key.
There is the dear little Jack on the left, and lying in their bed with Jill below.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
06.05.2012
Jack Russell, Obsession, Obsessive compulsive behaviour, Separation Anxiety, growling, obsessive licking
Hardy is a wonderful, perky little dog. He is also a bit ‘all over the place‘. He reminds me a little of my Cocker Spaniel, Pickle, who is so enthusiastic that he seldom thinks before he acts!
Hardy is still only ten months old. He flies all over the place, he pulls badly on lead and may be unpredictable around other dogs – largely I believe because he picks up on the anxiety of his lady owner.
He is very open to encouragement and reward. It works so much better with him to call him away from something and reward him, than to command him Down or Off. He needs to be shown what he should do, not only what he should not do.
One problem is that Hardy doesn’t really know what is expected of him, because the rules are not consistent and the boundaries blurred. He has a very empathetic owner who was already learning quickly while I was there, and two lovely children who will help her.
Already Hardy was learning some impulse control.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
02.05.2012
Parsons Terrier
The only way to get a photo of Bella was to wait until she was lying down! She is a small seven month-old Staffie who isn’t a bad dog really, but in most respect she is just ‘too much‘.
She is particularly ‘too much’ for their other, older Staffie Marvin – age 9. She constantly pesters him to play, she humps his head, she sits on him.
She is also ‘too much’ for the family when she flies around the sofas and launches herself onto people. When the lady is reclining on the sofa watching TV Bella jumps onto her, and when she is told to get off she curls her lip and snaps. She is also ‘too much’ on walks! Despite being quiet a small dog, she pulls like a train.
Bella didn’t have the best start in life, having been separated from her siblings at five weeks of age. Instead of learning how to play nicely and to be gentle with the other puppies, it was up to her new human family and poor Marvin to teach her, and they weren’t giving her what she needed.
Bella also has too much in the way of stimulation. It is like she is being fed rocket fuel. They feel, like many people do, that lots of play and exercise is going to tire her out and make her quiet, but the opposite happens. She has been taken for four mile runs in a field to save them from lead walking. While out in the field she will plague poor Marvin by hanging onto his face and going for him. Apart from anything else, it’s not good for a young dog’s joints to be over-exercised.
I didn’t see Bella at her worst because already for the past few days the lady has been acting upon my telephone advice and she was generally calmer. This evening while I was with them, apart from a bit too much playing with Marvin to the point where they needed to be broken up, she was a good little dog.
This is another case of leadership/parenting needed. Manners and rules need to be established around food, jumping up, excitement before going out and the pestering of Marvin. They need to be consistent, avoid confrontation and be encouraging, use rewards and stick to their guns.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
01.05.2012
Staff, Staffie, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, pushy dog
Olive is a cross between an English Mastiff and probably a Rottweiler. She is a lovely girl – gentle and biddable at home – perhaps a bit anxious sometimes. She is especially anxious around other dogs and due to her weight and power she has not had any walks now for eighteen months.
Her people have been pulled over, and uncontrolled she is a danger to dogs and people that she feels she needs to ‘see off’.
Giving her no walks, even if she has lots of exercise and a large garden, creates another problem. One sees city dogs who are so habituated to people, noise, traffic and other dogs that they ignore them completely. Outside the gate Olive will be on sensory overload with all the smells, sounds and passers-by, both humans and dogs. However much preparation is done beforehand at home, it would be unreasonable to expect Olive to be calm without a good deal of desensitisation.
The family will need to tighten up their leadership skills in the house – there isn’t much to do because Olive and her companion, an Akita called Tokyo, are very good dogs. She needs to have faith in her owners as the decision-makers and protectors. The technique of loose-lead walking will need to be perfected in a safe and non-stimulating environment – the garden. Olive then needs to be no further than just outside the front, standing still, sniffing, watching, with a handler who knows exactly the best way to react as soon as something starts to upset her.
She will need lots and lots of very short exposures to the outside world, very gradually increasing in intensity only as and when she is ready, with the support of a person who knows exactly how to react when a dog or person approaches.
Olive’s life will then start to become more fulfilling. Bless her.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just take a look at what I do, check the map and contact me.
29.04.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, English Bull Mastiff, Pulling on lead, Rottweiler, aggressive to people
These three things - pulling on lead, being reactive to other dogs and unreliable recall usually all go together. One seldom sees a dog that is walking calmly on a slack lead who is also on the alert for other dogs. A calm dog would have a certain relationship with the walker or owner – to do with respect and trust. This calm dog would be more likely to come back when called.
Heather, probably a cross between a Collie and some sort of Retriever, really is the model dog most of the time. It is her behaviour outside which lets her down. At home she is a polite dog, not pushy but not wanting too much touching and cuddling, but in a subtle way she rules the roost. She is, understandably, adored. Four young adults live in the house and all pay her homage! She has her owners working for her – doing things her way. They need to start to get her working for them instead! So long as dogs know what is required of them, they love this.
I demonstrated in the house how to get Heather following or walking beside me all over the place, longish lead completely loose. She was very happy with it. This exercise demonstrates the kind of relationship between dog and handler better than anything else. Initially most dogs will do this calmly for me but not for their owners. It is to do with how I have been behaving towards the dog from the moment I entered the house. She wants to work for me. This is the reason the owners need training as much as, if not more than the dog!
If they apply themselves Heather will soon be walking beautifully - relaxed and happy. They will know exactly how to react when they see another dog – but only if they need to. They will also work on Heather’s recall – and this will improve if in the house when they ask her to do something they only need to ask once - and they follow through. They should be sparing in their demands on her, but when they do ask her to do something, mean it.
If she ignores them at home – is it likely she will take note of them when they are out?
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
27.04.2012
Collie, Cross breed, Pulling on lead, Reactive to other dogs
Maisie is a 7-month-old Cocker Spaniel with behaviour very similar to Pebbles who I met a couple of days ago.
From the moment they brought Maisie home at eight weeks old she was a nippy puppy with her needle sharp puppy teeth. If this had been dealt with from the word go, it would have stopped long ago instead of getting worse. Her owners had never had a dog before and they have done everything they can to bring her up right – influenced as usual by TV programmes, things they have read on the Internet and what other people advise.
When puppy nipping isn’t dealt with correctly – and this is not done by scolding or punishment – it grows into a bigger problem as the dog grows bigger. Now Maisie is biting quite hard, for no apparent reason she flies at her young lady owner in particular, grabbing her clothes and hurting her. When she turns her back to Maisie, her back gets the damage.
The lady really so wants to kiss and cuddle Maisie, but Maisie is having none of it. The man, who fusses her less, has more respect.
Just as with Pebbles, in the time I was there, for me she changed into a willing little dog who was eager to please me – with the occasional ‘just testing‘ relapse to see if my response to the jumping on me was unwavering. She was soon listening to me and eagerly doing what I quietly asked her to do. She is adorable. They couldn’t remember having had an evening like it when Maisie was so calm.
A strange thing did happen which I have noticed on previous occasions but to a lesser extent. When I put her lead on to gain more control – dropping it so she trailed it – initially it was like she became hypnotised. She stood very still. Normally she runs off when they want to put her lead on (this isn’t because she doesn’t like walks – more because she doesn’t want to be controlled), so they chase and corner her which causes her to cower.
On and off all evening we practised calling her over, asking her to sit, treating her, putting the lead on or taking it off and then rewarding her again. She was willing and cooperative. We were ‘working’ her and putting some demands on her in terms she understood and without getting her excited. She loved it.
I hope the lady in particular can continue reacting in such a way that Maisie doesn’t ‘attack’ her and her clothes or shoes when they are alone together without the gentleman to step in and help. I may need to go again and show them by example once more.
Old habits are hard to break for both the humans and the dog – especially giving commands like No and Off which do no good at all – and only make a dog like Maisie more bolshie and wild.
From email received 9 days later: ‘We have seen a vast difference in Masies behaviour already, she is calmer and all our issues have improved…”
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
26.04.2012
Biting, Cocker Spaniel, Jumping up, Uncategorized, grabbing clothes, nipping
Pebbles is six months old. Her mother is her father’s daughter – which isn’t a good thing! This means her father, a Springer Spaniel, is her grandfather – but fortunately her grandmother was a Border Collie so there are some new genes in the mix.
I absolutely loved her! Look at that face!
Before I went I assumed that in-breeding would be the main cause of her problems, but I think not now. She parted from her siblings too young and consequently never learnt bite inhibition. She gets excited and rough to easily, and she jumps up persistently on people – maybe grabbing and nipping also. She guards things that she steals and also her food.
I believe that a lot of this unwittingly has to do with the home circumstances.
The problem has been allowed to escalate because, although she is fortunate to have company during the day, while the family is at work she is alone with the old lady who is neither mobile nor active enough to respond appropriately. Unfortunately Pebbles has bitten her twice – quite badly. She’s not bitten anyone else – yet.
This is a difficult situation because the lady loves Pebbles and wants to touch and spoil her. We have to play safe for Pebbles’ sake as well as the lady’s. For now I hope Pebbles will be left behind the gate and that the lady will not let her through when she is alone in the house. They can all then work on being calm, consistent, quiet and firm. Only when Pebbles has calmed down, learnt some rules and boundaries, stopped being possessive and using her teeth, should she again be in the same rooms as the old lady when nobody else is there to help.
To deal with jumping up and nipping in a way that doesn’t cause things to escalate or develop into aggression or defiance, one needs to be fairly agile, to be consistent and to react fast. Anything confrontational like scolding or saying NO only encourages her, as does waving hands about and trying to push her away.
I taught Pebbles to respect me by how I reacted to her jumping up and soon she was virtually eating out of my hand. You could see how happy she was being taught rules and boundaries in terms she understood. I concentrated on showing her what I DID want instead of the jumping. Not once did anyone tell her off, say ‘No’ or tell her ‘Down’.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
24.04.2012
Biting, Jumping up, Springer Spaniel, Uncategorized, nipping
I hope they can send me a better picture than the one I took, because Ollie the Giant Schnauzer is a wonderful dog to look at. He is also a wonderful dog temperamentally, friendly and confident – whilst being an adolescent who has been gradually becoming a bit big for his hairy boots!
They did choose the breed to be guard dog, but they want a family pet also, and the two don’t go well together.
Ollie’s big problem is extreme guarding around his food. He is now 19 months old, and about nine month ago he started to growl when anyone approached him while he was eating. Initially the gentleman (who does most of Ollie’s feeding) found that Ollie was OK so long as he held his food bowl for him while he ate (like his private butler!). Over the months they have tried scolding, punishment, encouraging him, spraying him with a pet ‘Corrector’, taking his food away, not taking his food away – basically everything that well-meaning friends and family, the dog trainer they go to or the Internet tells them to do. Dominance techniques are dangerous. Ollie is merely getting worse.
The growling has now developed to barking and snarling and they fear he would bite if they got too close. So they wisely leave him alone while he is eating, but now he comes looking for trouble! He will stand over his bowl and bark and then run in to them and bark before running back out to defend his food again!
It seems like he wants to goad the gentleman into a contest over who owns his food. It seems clear to me that they must not play his game which involves confrontation, whilst at the same time working from a psychological approach covering all aspects of their relationship with Ollie. Just shutting Ollie away to get on with his meal may be playing safe, but doesn’t resolve anything. The strategy involves working a bit at a time, probably over several weeks at least, showing that they are in control of all food (and everything else in Ollie’s life also), and that they are the providers and ‘givers’. Never ‘takers’. Oh why do some people advocate taking food away or interfering with a dog’s food while he is eating! Anyway, now he will get his food when, where and how the gentleman chooses, and a humans presence will be accompanied by good stuff – adding to his bowl.
He has another problem that needs ironing out, and that is pulling on lead. He has been going to dog training classes for many months, and if these particular training methods taught were working for Ollie, by now he would be walking nicely without constant correction and being commanded to heel! It amazes me that people are willing to put up with week after week of no progress outside of their training class, but they keep going (and then it’s quite common for people to expect my ‘be a joy to walk with so you have a cooperative and willing dog‘ approach to be instant)! Everything takes a certain amount of time and work, but how much better for everyone to appeal to the dog’s psychology than to use force and correction. Especially with a dog of this size, loose lead walking is a must.
Ollie is very ready to be defiant, and the methods used have been mostly to do with ‘training’ and commands mixed with indulgence, rather than allowing him to work out for himself how to make good things happen by rewards for the right behaviours. I also found he was very willing to be cooperative if treated a certain way. The family have a very good sense of humour and can see the humorous side to Ollie, and I am sure will find intuitive and inventive ways of gaining the upper hand by earning his respect and sometimes even outwitting him, whilst actually finding it quite fun!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
23.04.2012
Pulling on lead, guarding, guarding food
It is sad to see such a young dog so scared.
Darcy is only five months old. At home, with family and close friends, she is relaxed, friendly and biddable. She is surprisingly calm for a puppy, she doesn’t chew things and she is house-trained.
The problem is ‘other’ people. When I arrived her hackles were raised high all along her back, she was backing away and barking like mad. This carried on for a while. She would find the courage to come a bit nearer and then back off barking again.
The natural reaction of humans is to either tell the dog to be quiet, or to pet and ‘comfort’ her. They were doing both these things. Scolding a dog for being scared isn’t appropriate, and stroking is reinforcing her fears – telling she is right to be frightened. I am showing them what are the appropriate ways of reacting. You can see on the right she is yawning – a sign that although she now looks in settled position she is still anxious.
Out on walks Darcy shrinks away from people and other dogs. She has already started to bark at things she hears outside the house or garden. One can imagine what she will be like as an adult German Shepherd if something isn’t done now.
Darcy displays all the signs of a puppy who has not been handled by a sufficient number of new people before she even leaves the breeder. One or more of the following factors could also contribute to the cause: being born to a fearful mother and maybe of a natural nervous disposition anyway, kept out of the way in another room or a shed for the first eight weeks of their life, possibly some inbreeding.
I shall be helping Darcy’s family for the next few months, maybe longer, helping them to understand her and to help her gain confidence. There is no quick fix and we can’t put the clock back.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
16.04.2012
GSD, German Shepherd, Scared, Uncategorized, scared of people, white German Shepherd
Max is four years old and for the first two years of his life he was the most important thing in his owners’ lives. He had three long walks a day and they took him everywhere with them.
Then they had their little girl and now a four-month-old baby. They have also moved house.
Max now is not the happy little dog as he used to be and this is demonstrated by his change in behaviour. Because of his behaviour, his owners are not enjoying him any more, to the point where he’s almost too much trouble. Consequently their own behavour towards Max has changed. It’s Catch 22.
Max barks excessively. He has become touchy. He snaps at the little girl and he snaps when he’s disturbed. His walks are no longer so enjoyable and he is unpredictable with other dogs.
In response and in order to try to do something about the situation, they have watched Cesar Millan. Cesar makes things look so quick and easy on TV. Copying some of the dominance techniques on our own dogs can cause much more harm than good. Humans trying to act like ‘Alphas’ have caused defiance and an escalation in aggression. I would ask people – is this the way you would treat your child if he was frightened, misunderstood and unhappy?
In no time at all, this little dog quickly became eager to cooperate with me. He came alive. He looked joyful and attentive. And all because I showed him just what I wanted of him – in ways that he understood; I encouraged him and I rewarded him.
I hope Max’ people can now see that if they treat him with understanding, patience and encouragement they will see a huge difference. At the same time they must play safe. I suggested a small dog pen for their big sitting room with his bed in it, a child-free area where he can come and go freely but shut in when necessary, so that children are always safe but at the same time he can remain part of the family.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
13.04.2012
Barking, Barking at sounds, Miniature Schnauzer, snap, snauzer
The Norwegian Buhund is bred to be a herding and watchdog, so it’s no surprise that these three are inclined to bark. Despite going to thousands of dogs, I have never met a Behund before. Now I have got to know three!
The family lives on a farm surrounded by acres of land and the two dogs in the photo have probably seen a rabbit – or it could have been a pigeon or a duck or they may even just have heard something.
All three are gentle and sweet-natured, with distinctive personalities. The youngest is the most exuberant and does most of the jumping up and pulling on lead, the middle one is the most nervous and has his own funny little ways, and the oldest one is the most troubled by any hint of conflict between the other two, or by anything that might be passing the property signalling potential danger.
The family are very concerned for their neighbours. Telling the dogs to be quiet obviously doesn’t work else barking would no longer now be causing a problem. There needs to be a different way of dealing with barking – in a way that a leader or parent would when being alerted to possible danger.
Always in cases like this there are ways in which the opportunities for dogs to bark can be reduced, even if it means moving things about. Then there is a manageable situation to deal with.
Email to me two weeks later: “… there has been a noticeable improvement in daily life here. B is much more responsive and comes in from the garden when called now – OK maybe not every time but certainly 90% of the time and gets his much coveted treat. If he doesn’t come I go and get him and he knows what to expect now. M is much less ‘jumpy’ although he still occasionally jumps at the worktop to see out of the kitchen window. T still seems quite stressed where she seems to think she has to referee between the boys. This has improved over the last few days so maybe it will just take time. Food situation has greatly improved”. This will be ‘work in progress’ for quite a while.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
06.04.2012
Barking, Barking at birds, Barking at rabbits, Barking at sounds, Norwegian Buhund, Uncategorized
Dashi is sixteen weeks old and already getting big – a large ball of sometimes naughty fluff! Adorable.
She was on her best behaviour when I was there – like so many dogs seem to be – so I didn’t see her at her worst. In most ways she is wonderful. She is already quite good on lead, she seldom jumps up, she is calm around food and already she is completely house-trained.
The problem is that she uses her mouth too freely! She grabs, nips and bites. She grabs trousers, she grabs arms and she bites hands. She chases and bites shoes, and when the little girl is sitting at the tables she goes for her feet which starts a commotion with screaming and scolding which winds her up even more.
‘Discipline’ is lost on Dashi and only makes her worse. I did notice a growl when she nipped the lady as she moved the little girl’s chair out from the table, and I fear this is the direction it will be leading if confrontational ‘dominating’ methods are used – or anger. They have had several Newfies before, but not one as wilful as Dashi.
There needs to be a lot more encouragement and teaching Dashi the desired behaviour as opposed to just chastising for the bad stuff. They are now going to do all they can to reward the positive. With the biting and shoe chasing a replacement behaviour needs to be taught and they are working on an alternative using clicker training which (now day 2) already seems to be getting her attention. The environment itself and daily routine needs tweaking in order to remove as much opportunity for the undesirable behaviours as possible and to keep her busily occupied.
It is hard to remember she is only sixteen weeks old and not to expect too much of her, like not taking the child’s toys or chewing things that are left about, chasing the cat or getting excited when a child is running about. These things have to be taught patiently and kindly over time, using reward and encouragement.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
31.03.2012
Biting, Newfoundland, Uncategorized, clicker training, mouthing, nipping
Princess came from Wood Green Animal Shelter two months ago and is a wonderful dog. She is friendly and stable with no apparent hang-ups at all.
The problem I was called out for was her persistent jumping up. There are three children in the family, aged between 6 and 11, and the youngest could easily be knocked over. The children are very good and try to turn away, but they may wave their arms in the air. Naturally they will get excited. Their grandfather, whose dog Princess is, will be grabbing her and scolding her. She also jumps on the adults who tell her ‘down’ and push her off, but they also, at other times, pet her while her feet are off the floor. Very confusing for Princess.
What Princess is learning is that jumping up gives her high-value attention – under her own control, especially when people have just come in. She may get down initially when told and pushed, but she has learnt it is a sure-fire way to get attention next time! Telling her to get down, pushing her and especially looking her in the eye is, to the dog, a mix of saying ‘come up’ and ‘go away’. Very confusing!
Not surprisingly due to lack of experience and training and her enthusiastic personality, Princess is a big puller on lead and now they use a head halter which she hates. This really isn’t necessary if they go back to the beginning, and teach her to walk beside them through choice, one step at a time.
These problems should soon iron themselves out with consistency and a bit of effort – and she will be the model family pet!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
29.03.2012
Jumping up, Pulling on lead, Staff, Staffie, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Uncategorized
This is Candy, a 2-year-old Boxer in her typical pose with tongue out! Up until last October her sister, Floss, lived with them also, but due to Floss’ bullying and dominating Candy who was the more sensitive and nervous of the two, they found a new home for Floss. This was additionally necessary because it had developed into fighting and drawing blood, and the family has two young children. It is likely we could have done something about this had I been called in back then.
Straight away Candy was a happier, more relaxed dog – in all respects bar one. Where before she had been fine around other dogs, now she is extremely reactive – barking and lunging in a scary manner.
It seems she felt that the bossy Floss was the leader, protector and decision-maker out on walks and without her the burden has fallen upon Candy herself. She simply can’t cope.
At home she is mild-mannered, gentle and loving. Then as soon as the door is open she charges out, pulling. This will be very uncomfortable for her because she still pulls despite wearing a Gentle Leader head halter which she hates and tries to remove.
It is a really clear example of how dogs, especially dogs of a more nervous temperament, need leadership in the sense of ‘guide, decision-maker and protector’ (not ‘dictator’) and it would seem in Candy’s case that even Floss’ sort of leadership was better than none. The lady has taken her to classes. On walks they continually correct her by jerking the lead and saying ‘heel’. It makes no difference beyond probably adding to the stress of all concerned. All they are doing is trying to control her physically because they are stronger than she is and have the head halter. This is not what I consider to be leadership and neither, evidently, does Candy.
It would be a rare sight to see a dog that walks calmly beside a person on a longish loose lead, sniffing the ground and doing what dogs naturally do, with no gadgets like head halters or retractable leads, suddenly lunging and barking at other dogs.
Happy, calm, loose-lead walking is where it all has to start, and I show how this is achieved. Then ‘other dogs’ can be added gradually into the equation, but in controlled situations to begin with.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
28.03.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, Boxer, Pulling on lead, Uncategorized
This is quite a sad story of things not going to plan on the day and of hindsight being a wonderful thing.
Ruby is a five-year-old Staffie cross of brilliant temperament in all but one respect – she is very much on edge around other dogs. She always has been. I believe this could be something to do with her leaving her litter mates too young and therefore not having company of other dogs in the crucial early weeks. When she meets dogs on walks her hackles go up and she growls – obviously scared.
Ruby’s owners wanted to rescue a dog that was very much in need of a home, so they chose Jojo, a 9-month-old Pointer mix from a rescue centre in Southern Spain.
Jojo arrived last week. She was expected during the day but was delivered by lorry at 11 o’clock at night!
This immediately wiped out any plans they may have had for introducing the dogs in neutral territory in the park.
The dogs were crated for the night, and already things were going wrong. It could well have been easier for Ruby if they had chosen a dog rather than a bitch. The two dogs could eyeball one another from their crates. Jojo is a mild mannered and easy-going young dog, but Ruby will have been feeling increasingly threatened and territorial.
In the morning the dogs were let out of their crates. There will have been a lot of tension from the humans. Ruby was showing classic signs of anxiety, continually glancing at Jojo and then deliberately looking away. The gentleman stood between the dogs giving what he felt were calming words but the dogs would not have been fooled. Before they knew what had happened, Jojo was screaming in the corner, pinned by Ruby. No damage was actually done so it was probably just a big warning. Poor Jojo. What a difficult introduction to her new home.
Another more minor episode followed the next day, so now Jojo is temporarily living with the gentleman’s mother. I was called in to help them prepare both dogs for a fresh start.
This is tricky. There are things Ruby does and is allowed to do that could be potential for trouble, and these have to be dealt with first. How the owners now react when they meet other dogs when out is very important. Not only does Ruby’s behaviour need some work, but they need to change things round a bit and gate the kitchen doorway.
We have a plan for a controlled meeting between Ruby and Jojo in the park, initially at a good distance until, hopefully, walking on lead near each and ideally back home together. Once home it will be a bigger problem and they need initially to kept apart so they can see one another but not make contact, separated by a gate or in crates, for as long as it takes to work on the situation. The demeanor of the humans is very important. Patience, calm and quiet is needed and in particular Ruby must not be scolded if she growls.
After the unfortunate start and knowing no different, they did what they thought was best, but the first encounter should have been approached differently. Now that this has happened it will take longer as Ruby will already be on the defensive. It is a blessing that Jojo, who in the rescue centre had been mixing with other dogs, is not unduly fazed by Ruby. What a fantastic temperament she has!
If a dog is already not good around other dogs, another dog suddenly in her own home must be an ordeal for her.
This is from an email I received three and a half months after my visit: “When we go out together, the dogs are on their leads and walk so well together – Ruby tends to lead the way, Jojo likes to follow her, sniffing where she sniffs etc. When we get home, we all go in together - the dogs are ‘nose to backside’ as we go in! ….In the evenings we do still rotate the dogs in/out of their pens. …. they still just take it turns to be penned downstairs, maybe an hour at a time. Now and again 
I’ve had Jojo on my lap on the armchair while Mike and Ruby are on the sofa – they seemed relaxed with it. The other night all four of us were on the sofa – dog/human/dog/human – both Ruby and Jojo very chilled - so nice!
We’ve discovered Jojo likes to dig! She has made a great big hole in the lawn which we’ve decided to leave in case she wants to make other holes. She enjoys herself so much, dropping one of her chewy bones in it, then digging it out again – doggy bliss! Today we took Jojo to a Fun Day at a local RSPCA centre and entered her into the ‘fun dog show’. We had a lovely day and she won 1st place for Best Condition Mixed Breed!
So that’s the story so far Theo….not quite living freely together yet but a pretty relaxed household, so watch this space!
Six months after my visit: “In the evenings both dogs are now out of their pens : ) Mike and I on sofa with one or both of us between them – Ruby pretty chilled about it now and Jo not so conscious of her. ….They have actually been left a few times dozing on the sofa togetherfor a few minutes. We’re still trying to keep that calm atmosphere which we know now is SO important with Ruby….We don’t take the muzzle on walks anymore. She rarely even whines now when she sees other dogs and is keen to go and meet them….. Theo – really pleased with the way things are still going - still heading in the right direction! Thanks so much again for your ongoing help”. Here is a photo – and whilst Ruby isn’t totally relaxed a huge step forward.
And nine months after my visit, “Just to wish you a merry Christmas and a very happy new year! All is great here, can actually say that Ruby and JoJo are now living freely together. They seem relaxed with eachother – nice content dogs”.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
22.03.2012
Pointer, Staff, Staffie, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Uncategorized, introducing new dog, rescue dog
A Cane Corso (Italian Mastiff) was bred to guard the property and hunt. Taken into a family home, she is bound to be a challenge as Brooke’s original owners probably found out. She had been in the care of a rescue organisation for fourteen months before coming to her new home. She is now three years old.
It’s not surprising that, due to a mixed past and her genetic inheritance that she is suspicious of strangers and dogs. Suspicious implies fearful and protective.
Brooke’s new owners knew what they were taking on four or so months ago. They have already made terrific progress. They know that there is still a long way to go, particularly where Brooke’s encountering people, dogs, traffic, bikes and so on is concerned. They can’t predict what her response will be.
After one unfortunate incident when someone came to the house, they are also very careful to train their visitors!
I am making Brooke sound like a difficult and touchy dog, but for the most part this isn’t the case. She is highly intelligent, loving and gentle with the people she knows. I found her friendly and biddable.
A dog like this makes a nonsense of ‘dominance‘ techniques (confronting a dog, facing or pinning it down to ‘show who is boss’). That would be the fast track to a nasty bite and a dangerous dog. Fortunately Brooke’s owners would not consder doing these things, but in some respects they are not clear what they should be doing.
Effective leadership has nothing to do with dominating, though it does mean making decisions and standing firm; encouraging a dog to be respectful where our own personal space is concerned – especially a dog of such strength and power.
Leadership is about consistency, calmness and confidence. Most dogs are predisposed to wanting to please their humans, so we tap into this. We cut down on confrontational commands and enlist her cooperation with encouragement and reward. Whilst demonstrating to Brooke that her warnings of danger are valued, actually dealing with the danger is not her job – it is that of the leaders. Brooke should be ‘off duty’ and trusting her humans to see to things – especially when out on walks where, on lead, effectively she is trapped. She is trapped, attached to someone who is nervous and worried, who may not react as a leader should in the eyes of a dog when encountering things she perceives as a threat. It is no wonder an already protective breed can go into full guarding mode.
Leaders are not nervous or worried. Leaders are decisive. It’s a sign of strength and not weakness to walk away from possible trouble.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
16.03.2012
Aggressive to other dogs, Cane Corso, Uncategorized, aggressive to people
Evie has just had her second litter (it is hard to see which end is which but her head is on the left). On the right she is teaching three-month-old Lara some manners. Evie is the mother of Milo who is the main barker and most excitable of the dogs, and they also have six-year-old Ruby.
It takes very little to set Milo and Evie off barking. Ruby will join in. They bark whenever they hear any sound outside. Milo stands and barks in the garden whenever he goes out, joined by Evie who runs around barking. They bark frantically when someone comes in the house.
There is bedlam before taking them out for a walk - with all three adult dogs jumping and barking and it’s a fight to attach collars and leads onto Milo in particular. Milo keeps barking all the way down the road.
Evie and her puppies are kept separate from the other dogs in the dining room and hall. Three month old Lara is kept behind a gate in the kitchen, and the other two are behind yet another gate in the utility room. It is a logistical challenge! Milo who is only eleven months old pester Ruby, and to give her some peace she spends time in a crate which she then guards.
The situation is a melting pot of noise and excitement and it has been getting too much!
We broke things down and looked at each element, combining different behaviour from the humans with some ways of managing things better. It will take time and work which the lady understands. She loves her dogs and not only breeds but also shows them.
Garden barking needs to be controlled so they can be brought in as soon as they start. Shouting ‘be quiet‘ has to stop as it doesn’t help at all and a different approach used. Before walks the dogs need to be separated and shown that nothing at all is going to happen until they are quiet. Once through the gate, Milo needs to understand that as soon as he starts barking he will be going back in.
With time and patience a much calmer household should result – quieter too, although not a silent one!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
15.03.2012
Barking, Tibetan Terrier, Uncategorized, puppies
Tia is absolutely beautiful, and for the great majority of the time she is biddable, well-behaved and gentle.
However, over the past few months she has gradually been developing a behaviour that is not good at all.
It probably started when she was comfortably asleep in the evening and they wanted her to go into the garden before they went to bed and Tia didn’t want to go. She started growling.
This escalated until one evening she bit the gentleman.
Soon she was stealing things - usually personal items like underwear and slippers – and taking them into her bed and guarding them. Gradually she started to do this in other places she likes to sleep.
Tia herself doesn’t really enjoy this game, because she frightens herself. She is tempting fate, if you like, because although she started it she is scared when approached or cornered.
Her family give her attention whenever she wants it. They are going to play a little ‘harder to get’ so that she begins to value them and their attention a bit more, and work on their leadership skills. As she never damages things that she takes, there is no reason for them to play her game. They are going to completely ignore the whole thing rather than always taking things off her as they do now. They should also remove her access to tempting objects.
So far as going outside last thing is concerned, they can outwit her, I’m sure, and avoid all confrontation. She will be going out willingly. If they command her to go her outside or try to drag her out of her bed, they invite defiance. There are other ways!
Coincidentally I have been to several Spaniels of late who take things and guard them. I fostered a resource guarding Springer Spaniel a couple of years ago whose previous lady owner had many bites, and she never did it with and I found her a lovely home with an existing client of mine who knew what to do.
Tia will stop in time I am sure if nobody is willing to play, if she gets no attention out of it, and if the family change their own behaviour with her just a little!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
13.03.2012
Biting, Cocker Spaniel, Resource guarding, Stealing things, Uncategorized, growling
Billy is a Miniature Schnauzer of just eighteen months old. He goes frantic when anyone apart from family and close friends come to the house. He lunges, barks and growls, very upset and scared. He has to be restrained until he calms down.
Billy is never taken for walks now because it is such a nightmare. Virtually anything can cause him to lunge and bark with hackles up – people, other dogs, bicycles, joggers – you name it.
He has twice quite badly bitten family members who tried to put a harness on him. On occasions when they need to take him out like a visit to the vet, he will cower, try to hide and do all he can to avoid the lead. Billy also growls around the feet of anyone who is moving about whom he thinks may be leaving the house.
Imagine how it must be, constantly living in such a highly wound up state.
The family thought they had done all the right things when they chose Billy. He was Kennel Club registered. I am sorry to say I don’t feel this is particularly significant if it’s a family pet we want rather than a dog that physically fits the breed standards for looks rather than temperament. The puppies were upstairs in a bedroom. The family did not meet the mother dog. It’s obvious the puppies had little or no socialisation or encounters with everyday things, people or dogs outside that environment. Inadequate exposure to everyday life before eight weeks of age can contribute to a dog being temperamentally fragile.
One very positive thing is that he seems very much at ease with their 10-month-old crawling granddaughter. It seems she is the only person who can touch him freely and his body language is a lot calmer around her – he even brings her his toys which is lovely. He does not feel threatened by her at all.
With an inadequate start in life and possibly unstable genes where temperament is concerned, Billy’s owners have more work to do than most. Billy needs convincing that he is safe in his own house – protected by his humans. He needs the right sort of calm, encouraging and consistent leadership. He also needs to know that the family can come and go as they like and he need not worry.
Introducing him again to his harness and preparing him for going out on walks will be an exercise in patience and kind encouragement.
It is so easy to get cross and shout at a dog when he growls or shows aggression. Unfortunately this can only make things worse. The dog isn’t bad, he’s scared.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
11.03.2012
Biting, Miniature Schnauzer, Uncategorized, growling
Beautiful and much-loved Louie (on the left) and Kiki have recently had a huge change in their lives. Five-year-old dark red Golden Retriever Kiki is a stable and confident dog and it seems not to have affected her, but Louie has only lived with the couple for about two years – he is now nine years of age – and life had not been good for him previously. The lady moved with the dogs to the UK about four months ago and the gentleman, who has a very close relationship with Louie, stayed behind and has only just joined them.
Louie, a Red Setter, had a ‘lampshade’ around his head. He was recovering from an operation on his foot to an injury brought about by his obsessive digging. Where most dogs might hear a little animal under the ground and dig for a short while (their ears are so much better than our own), Louie becomes obsessed. It is even possible now that he is now digging for the sake of digging. He cries and growls as he digs. If he has doggie boots then frantically he tries to bite the ground instead.
Before leaving the house Louie is so overwhelmed with excitement that he can hardly breathe. He is gasping.
When they had him about two years ago he had lots of phobias and they have come a long way. It is not surprising that the upheavel in his life has brought on a new one. This is also a case of owners over-compensating for the past and maybe also because they have to leave the dogs alone all day – by allowing them to make nearly all their own decisions – whether it’s where to sleep, when to be fed, when and where to go out or when they will get attention. This can be just as much a burden for a dog as it would a child. It can make a dog needy, resulting in separation issues.
These are wonderful, friendly dogs. There are a few behaviour things that need ironing out, from Kiki’s wanting everything under her own terms, refusing to come when called and going on strike if asked to move when she doesn’t want to, to Louie’s distress when left alone with just Kiki, his restless pacing and digging obsession.
It is now three months later, and I have just received this email: “I had a preliminary visit of a dog sitter this weekend. We went for a long walk together and they were good. They obeyed the entire time even when let off the leash. I also showed her your web site entry about the dogs to make her aware of possible complications. Then I mentioned that Louie has high stress levels, etc… The dog sitter looked at me and just said: “What stress levels? Look at Louie he is just lying there peacefully. He doesn’t have high stress levels.” I had comments from the vet…that Louie calmed down a lot. However, since I spend every day with him, the gradual change was not so striking to me. So this comment from a person that is in contact with many dogs, really made me aware of Louie’s progress. We really came a long way thanks to you and your suggestions.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
08.03.2012
Dark red golden retriever, Digging, Golden retriever, Obsession, Red Setter
Four-year-old Bella should be a happy dog. She lives with a great family who love her, she is well fed, she has good exercise and a comfortable bed.
However, she is not a happy dog much of the time. Bella is anxious and wary. She has to know where each family member is all the time, running around the house and trying to round them up. She goes ‘mental’ when they try to leave the house and she may nip a visiting person who starts walking out through a door, though, interestingly, she is quite settled once she is all alone.
The little boy is only two years old, and Bella feels threatened and growls if she is cornered by him. So far he’s not been nipped.
Being in a family with three children there is a lot of bustle and excitement – particularly before school in the mornings. Bella gets very worked up indeed, running around the house and as the first ones leave for school, hurling herself at the window, barking.
Bella is very wary of new people and other dogs, especially men, and on walks she will bark, hackle and cower away.
I would say her start in life was far from perfect. Before twelve weeks old she probably never encountered other dogs apart from her own mother and litter mates, and will not have been exposed to friendly people and children, nor things like vacuum cleaners. When it’s left this late, it is hard to catch up. It is very likely that her mother was also an anxious and timid dog and that her genetics were not ideal – puppies are usually friendly and confident, but Bella was scared when they fetched her.
I have been to a great number of anxious, timid dogs – and dogs that round people up and nip – quite of a few of them Border Collies.
Today, the next day, I have received an email: ‘This morning was wonderful. We followed your instructions……..Bella was calm and we were also. What a great start‘. I had been suggested by another client, and it’s always very rewarding to hear that I, to quote, ‘could not have been more highly recommended’.
With a mix of practical common sense, understanding things from the dog’s point of view and changing the owners’ behaviour accordingly, big changes can happen – given time.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
06.03.2012
Barking, Barking when people leave, Border Collie, Scared, Uncategorized, nipping, scared of other dogs, scared of people
Heidi who I saw a couple of days ago came from Ireland and was probably terrier mixed with Collie, and Ben I saw today was also shipped over from Ireland, as a puppy, and may be the same mix if more terrier than Collie. Both dogs are reactive and scared of dogs and people, especially when out, and both live with an older, larger dog. Ben lives with eight-year-old Chocolate Labrador Billy.
As you can see, Ben is lovely. He is affectionate and biddable though can be anxious and over-excited. He is three years old.
Ben barks and hackles at people he doesn’t know entering the house, men mainly, and at people he sees when out. Like Heidi he may rush at them and nip them. Ben’s reactivity to other dogs is spoiling walks. He will bark and lunge. It is obvious that he feels threatened, and simply wants them to go away.
When left alone at home, he is anxious – destroying things and raiding the bin. He has damaged the sofa.
A dog needs to believe in his owners as leaders, I see it like a good teacher with a class of children on a walk. They will stay with the teacher. They won’t be running off in front and they won’t be yelling and shouting at passers by, telling them rudely to get lost (I hope!). They trust the teacher to make the decisions and keep them safe. If the owners can convince the dog that they are good leaders – and this has to happen at home as well as out on walks – then the dog can relax and stop stressing. It takes time of course.
Too often people make things worse by tightening the lead and forcing the dog forward towards what he perceives as danger. They compound the problem by being tense and anxious or scolding the dog. If there were genuine danger, our teacher would not lead his class directly into it, would he? If he did, he would soon lose their trust and they may well run away from him. If the danger was not genuine, then it would be his job to convince the children that they were safe. He would be calm and in control. So it is with us and our dogs.
Phone conversation three days after my visit: Off to a very good start. Ben is calmer. Changed his food to something better. Harness has arrived. Bought a long lead. He was left alone for 5 hours today and no damage or raiding.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
03.03.2012
Chocolate Labrador, Collie, Collie cross, Cross breed, Terrier, Uncategorized, nipping
Heidi is yet another rescue dog from Ireland. A mixed breed with some collie in her, she is around one year old and has been in her new home since last March. The poor puppy had been found with wire tied around her muzzle – there are the scars – with stones being thrown at her.
In the circumstances she is amazing. She is lovely – affectionate an obedient. Look at her! The lady, an experienced dog owner, has worked very hard with her. She has been to training classes and did exactly what was required of her, but all the time looking totally miserable. They admit to having over-compensated for her start by giving her a great amount of freedom because she ‘loves to run’.This is often out of sight. She is seldom on lead for long, even when leaving the house – which poses a risk. She has upset a neighbour with her behaviour.
The problem that just won’t go away is Heidi’s rushing aggressively at people, and dropping down and stalking dogs, then charging, hackles up, as though to attack. She makes contact but so far has not actually bitten. She is desperate to make them go away. It’s not every person and it isn’t every dog. It will also depend upon her state of mind. Considering her beginning it is not surprising. Normally her recall is excellent, but if they get the timing wrong it is to late.
We had a good look at the world through Heidi’s eyes, along with why dog training as such does not help in times like this. She needs to be rescued from the fear she feels, and only her humans can do that for her by how they behave. A natural reaction is to be cross out of embarrassment if nothing else, but this will only add further stress to the situation by her associating people and dogs with unpleasant stuff.
For starters Heidi needs to be saved from herself. It needs to be made absolutely impossible for her to do this again, and this means an end to all this off-lead freedom for now. It will do her no harm at all and in fact may make her feel more secure to have owners who take over the role of decision-making.
How would Heidi expect a leader to behave in the face of perceived danger?
I received this email about seven weeks later: “I am really still so pleased and suprised how much Heidi has changed, the main improvement with her is the calmness that she shows now all the time. This shows in her behaviour around the home as well as outside and because she is spending more time on the lead, when I do let her off she does not now go far away from me and constantly comes back to check with me besides being very good on her recall. She only does an initial bark at anyone coming to the door and then looks for me to come and thank her and follows me inside. She is far more relaxed and I feel that there is a much stronger bond between us now and that she looks to me much more now. We still have good days and bad days with other dogs we meet but there is definite improvement and I do realise that this is going to be the problem that will take the longest but there is definetly a huge improvement and there are instances when she will pass another dog and almost ignore them which never happened before so baby steps but they are going forward”.
I can’t thank you enough for showing me where we were going wrong with Heidi and to be honest I feel so much more relaxed now and have no worries about walking Heidi anywhere and she is sooo worth it. and such an affection little girl and she appears to be far more confident now”.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
29.02.2012
Collie cross
Reggie is only seven months old, but to look at him you would never think he was little more than a puppy.
He has been hard work from when he arrived at eight weeks old. He is one of the most frantically hyped-up and restless dogs I have seen for a while.
Adolescent Reggie is on the go non-stop. Jumping up, roughly grabbing clothes and barking, digging the carpet, panting, drinking excessively, barking in their faces and constantly looking for mischief. His gentleman owner has some control because he is confident and gets angry, but the lady who is less assertive is being bullied by him. They have a little girl who needs protecting from the charging about and leaping all over people and furniture, so he is in his crate a lot of the time, because there simply is nothing else they feel they can do with him.
Reggie’s personality and genetics must be contributing to this, because the family have neither overly indulged him nor over-disciplined him. He has been carefully checked over by the vet. They have done everything they can. They have read books and taken him to classes, but as he gets older he gets worse.
Having someone with experience to actually come and see what is happening and to offer solutions geared specifically to their dog in his own environment is sometimes the only way. It is often impossible to apply what your read – and besides no two sources say the same thing.
We spent the evening working on his behaviour whilst looking into ways of calming him down in general. Training classes failed big time because he was so hyped up that he spent the time barking, jumping up and grabbing the lady – he even bit her leg, grabbing the lead, and chasing and nipping other dogs. He is already a very strong and large dog for the breed.
Using a psychological behavioural approach throughout the evening I showed him that jumping and grabbing me was not rewarding in any way. Bit by bit you could see him actually choosing the desired behaviour for himself. At the end of a tiring evening, instead of being shut away in his crate to bark and cry as usual, or jumping at me whenever I moved, he was lying spark out in the middle of the floor – even ignoring us walking around him – see the picture. .
It’s like he was completely exhausted and finally relaxed because patiently and kindly we had been giving him boundaries in a way that he understood and he actually wanted to please.
A big burden had been lifted from him yesterday evening. Bit by bit over the next few weeks he should become a different dog if they are consistent and patient.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
23.02.2012
English Bull Terrier, Hyper, Hyperactivity, Jumping up, Uncategorized
Mikey is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier mixed with something else – it looks very much like Pit Bull. He had an uncertain start in life with several different homes in the first six months. He now lives with a young couple who have overcome a lot of difficulties as he was very hard to handle initially, and he is now settled, affectionate and obedient with them.
Unfortunately he is easily spooked by things, like someone suddenly appearing when they are out, and certain people that make him feel uneasy. He may bark or even lunge and grab with his mouth. Fortunately he hasn’t so far broken skin, but his young owners are naturally very worried.
Mikey is also getting increasingly unpredictable when approached by certain other dogs. He chased off a young dog recently in an aggressive manner. He also is obsessed with the balls they take on walks, and had quite a major fight with a dog he knows well – over a ball.
Mikey is jumpy and nervous. He does a lot of pacing, some tail chasing and lots of chewing bones and toys. He is restless. I gently put my finger on his back as he lay in front of me, and he sprang to his feet. He runs away from carrier bags and is worried by new things in new places.
Looking as he does, it’s important he has a good reputation. It is vital they never get complaints about him and that he never gets the opportunity to bite anyone. At present he goes with them outside their flat off lead which I think is a mistake. His young male owner teases him and plays games like so many young men do, that not only wind him up but also encourage use of his mouth and teeth which I also believe is a mistake. Many walks consist of constant ball play which may exhaust him physically but do nothing to relax him mentally. Balls have become an obsession. Running around after balls on a walk isn’t what a dog would do if left to his own devises. What is a dog walk, after all?
Mikey needs to be surrounded by calm. He needs his young owners to act like confident leaders when they are out and make the decisions that are wise in Mikey’s eyes. We have been working on exactly how to achieve this. He should then be less jumpy, more stable, and less reactive to dogs and people. It will take time.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
22.02.2012
Pit Bull, Staff, Staffie, Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Four-year-old Springer Spaniel Chip has been in his new home for one month now.
He came from a working background where he was roughly trained to go beating, and when not working he was left to himself. The problems the gentleman is having with Chip are almost certainly due to previous harsh discipline.
Chip bites. He has lovely days with two long walks and a perfect new home and is really the model dog, but in the evening, when his gentleman owner would like to settle down, Chip starts his antics. He focuses on something – it may be anything, a piece of paper, it may be his blanket or a tea towel he has stolen – and then he guards it. He may hoard things and guard the pile. If the man moves in his direction Chip flies at him, and if he tries to take something away from Chip he gets bitten. His injured hand has the evidence to show for this.
It’s like Chip is setting the man up and challenging him. The man has risen to the bait, and may be inadvertently rewarding the behaviour by giving a lot of attention to it. It is very likely that Chip sees him as weak and is goading him. In the past he has probably been taught respect for a male owner through fear, and lack of cooperation would end in punishment. Now he is with a man who is gentle, who wants to spoil and cuddle him, and is constantly bribing and treating him with food. His boundaries have vanished. Chip must be very confused indeed by all the attention lavished on him. Interestingly, he does none of these things with the lady who pays him much less attention.
Confrontation is not the way to deal with this. Reinforcement drives behaviour, and the hoarding and guarding is being reinforced. There are ways to outwit Chip and get him to cooperate through choice. The gentleman needs to behave with Chip in a way that wins his trust and respect.
The gentleman is very committed to helping his lovely dog.
They started off very well, but gradually the gentleman relaxed, broke all the rules, resulting in a nasty bite that need hospital treatment. He himself admits it took this for him to take it really seriously. After that he stuck strictly to our plan. Chip has not growled at the gentleman, let alone bite him, for about a month now. He is a much more relaxed and happy dog now.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
18.02.2012
Biting, Resource guarding, Springer Spaniel, Uncategorized
Bruno is a teenager! He is eight months old and he knows that he is irresistible!
He is very good at manipulating his humans to do what he wants. Because of this, why should he do what they want?
Bruno is very good with other dogs and likes nothing more than a romp in the park or woods. However, he may need to go in the car to get there.
It is when they want to come home that the real problems start. Bruno is having such fun. He is tired and exhilarated. He simply refuses to get into the car and he is now a heavy dog.
Consequently other dog walkers have to help to wrestle him into the car.
His lady needs to outwit him and play on his weaknesses, one of which is he won’t let her out of his sight. It is a safe parking area, so what might happen if she got in, leaving the boot open, ignored him and started up the engine? Maybe started to move off? I think I know!
I recently went to a young St. Bernard who refused to get in the car at home – he was having much too much fun being fed and treated and enticed and then manhandled by several people. His lady owner found it really difficult to be ‘horrid’ to him, but just two times of opening the boot, saying ‘in you get’ and then taking him back indoors, not even taking off his lead, shutting the front door on him and then driving off, did the trick!
Bruno is a wonderful dog, intelligent and testing boundaries! Though beautiful and irresistible he needs to be resisted at times. He can be outwitted!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
17.02.2012
Refuse to get in car, Uncategorized, Weimerana, car problems
Rolo is a stable and confident Chocolate Labrador, two years of age, and a great family pet.
Rolo is also a law unto himself! This isn’t too important at home, but it has become very important out on walks where he refuses to come back until he is ready – this can be a long time. He likes to freelance, which involves playing with any dog he can find, chasing off after distant dogs, and jumping up all over people. He also may lie down and go on strike if they’re not going in the direction he chooses. Consequently he is no longer let off lead.
He has been to training classes for eighteen months, so it’s not that he doesn’t understand what ‘Come’ means. It is that he chooses not to!
At home I soon noticed that he quietly did his own thing when called. He doesn’t come eagerly or promptly. He may simply look and walk away, he may stand and stare as if to say ‘try again’ or he may go and fetch something first. When I called him \and he slowly came, he stood back a little so I had to lean to him and this is not because he’s shy! If he can get all the attention he wants anyway, when he wants it, there is little incentive for him to come when asked.
Good recall when out needs to start at home. It is not likely that he will come back when out with all the exciting distractions if when he is called from across the room he simply walks away!
The family need to learn to be more relevant. This is nothing to do with love, but respect. He needs to earn some of their attention. They need to show him that if they call him it is once only, and then after that if he wanders up in his own good time saying ‘I’m ready now’, their reaction is ‘Sorry, too late’. He also needs to learn that coming running immediately is going to be rewarding.
Only with the homework in place will they be ready to start on outdoor recall. Freedom is a thing for the future. There must be no more opportunities to practise freelancing.
With a structured plan in place, patiently working for weeks or even months until recall when called or whistled is automatic and programmed into him, against a background of work at home, Rolo should be ready to be let off lead. He should end up being a joy to walk.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
14.02.2012
Chocolate Labrador, Labrador, Uncategorized, recall, runnig off
Chelsea and Peaches are English Bull Terriers, aged two years and Peaches, on the right, one. They live with Angel, an elderly American Bull Dog.
There is an uneasy atmosphere. There is an unnatural stillness between all the dogs and the humans are on edge. Chelsea is fine if she’s not with Peaches, and it would be the same the other way around. Peaches is still a youngster and can be a bit annoying, but Chelsea is intolerant. Not only does she growl at Peaches, she growls at her humans when they move her and she growls at the children. She guards bones and she guards her crate. She even guards her place on the owner’s bed.
One dog will deliberately stand in a doorway – usually Peaches. Chelsea won’t have this so she too has to stand in the doorway. It’s now a stand-off about ownership of the doorway. This can only end one of two ways. Either Peaches will back down and move away, or there is a fight. Whether it’s a fight or not depends upon how aroused the dogs are.
If they are about to fly out of the door into the garden, Chelsea barking, it could well result in a fight. They may redirect their frustration onto each other if there is a noise outside or if they are not getting the attention they want.
Even Angel is less than tolerant, lying too still and watching the other dogs, growling at them if they go somewhere she doesn’t want them to be, and maybe snapping if they are near.
The family have been doing all they can to train their dogs, but the final straw was when they attacked two Staffordshire Bull Terriers in the park. The owners have gone down the ‘training’ and ‘discipline’ route. I believe de-stressing and calm, quiet leadership is what is needed.
A lot of the problems start with Peaches, but only develop because of Chelsea’s intolerance and belief she is in charge. She needs to be less defensive and more easy-going, and Peaches needs to learn to give her space. Both dogs are extremely stressed by one another.
The humans now know how to interrupt things as soon as they start to brew, as well as emergency measures if they are too late or somewhere else, and a fight has already begun.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
10.02.2012
English Bull Terrier, Uncategorized, fighting
Pip is a dear little scruffy-haired Jack Russell
, one year of age, who has been in his new home for one month. Home is a Mongolian Yurt – a round tent. It was minus 5 degrees last night and I went expecting to be cold, but with a log burner in the middle it was snug and warm and surprisingly spacious.
After a rather excitable start, Pip settled down in front of the fire.
When he arrived a month ago Pip was totally hyper. He leapt and flew all over the place, grabbing and mouthing. Patience and hard work has really calmed him down at home although there is still a way to go, but he is after all little more than a puppy.
It is out on walks that the problems really start.
He behaves almost like he has never been on a lead before. He pulls frantically. At the sight of another dog he is very unpredictable and I believe he feels insecure – as well he might, held tightly by an anxious human with no freedom to escape. At other dogs he tends to bark, rear up and go frantic. He has nipped two or three times. The final straw was when he got himself so worked up that he wound his lead around the lady’s legs, and when she accidentally trod on him he bit her – totally out of character but indicating just how fired up and stressed he was.
Certain TV programmes promote extreme exercise as the way to deal with problems such as this – long hikes, treadmills and the like. Apart from anything else, this is not what a terrier has been bred for. I have found time and time again that long walks, unless calm and happy, can over-stimulate a dog. It is no surprise that so many incidents happen at the end of a walk when he the dog is supposed to be tired out.
When I can get people to trust me and to see this, to go back to basics with several very short expeditions whilst teaching loose-lead walking and the joy of stress-free walking with a ‘leader’, dogs like Pip eventually are a dream to take out. It can take a lot of time. Unfortunately too many people give up too soon – or are persuaded by well meaning ‘experts’ and ‘dog-loving friends’ that they should be taking their dogs for long walks to to tire them out. Would you put a disturbed or hyperactive child on a treadmnill to tire it into compliance? No! I rest my case.
Pip’s owner was already very switched on before I visited, so it will be interesting to chart Pip’s progress.
She has worked very hard for the past six or seven weeks, two steps forward and one back. The yurt is not soundproofed which means that Pip hears all the night time noises. Here is the latest email: “Things here are ticking along ok and I am realising that my mood effects Pip. Had a family dinner at my uncles and ended up taking pip home….. Definitely only pip with the family at small calm gatherings for now. On a positive note Pip is really good in the yurt and garden i love him in these situations he’s so good and often just sits and sun bathes!! he’s learning lots of new tricks has plenty to entertain himself with and at least now when I hear him barking I call him and he comes back in the yurt. We had no nighttime barking since we spoke, fingers crossed for tonight!”
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
02.02.2012
Pulling on lead, Uncategorized
There is something so endearing about a Beagle!
Harvey is only three years old and has been on steroids for months during which time he has been very subdued. Now that he is being weaned off them he is livening up and his barking and lunging at other dogs is worsening. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern. He has many dogs he loves, but with others he can be unpredictable. I wonder whether he may not feel 100% still and could some days be more touchy than others, or whether on certain days he is more stressed. His lady owner in particular is on edge now when she takes him out, and this will not be lost on Harvey.
Harvey has had extensive training before he fell ill, but it simply did not address this problem. However well trained he is, ‘training’ can’t alter how a dog feels inside. He probably feels threatened and wary, maybe grumpy. Training can’t get rid of this. However, if his owners abandon trying to train it out of him and start to look at things from Harvey’s point of view, to understand him and to deal with his behaviour as a leader would, things will surely be changing. Time and patience is required. Harvey will start to look to them for guidance and protection, and his owners will be able to relax on walks again.
Basically, if a course of action has been followed for months, years even, and it hasn’t worked – then it’s time for something completely different!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
31.01.2012
Barking, Barking at other dogs, Beagle
What a dear little dog Pogo is. He is of indeterminate breed – there is probably both Collie and Terrier in there somewhere. Like so many of the rescue dogs I go to, he comes from Ireland and nobody knows his past. He spent a month in a foster home before joining his new family who have had him for just under two weeks.
He is a biddable and lovely natured dog, not overly nervous generally, but certain situations scare him out of all proportion. There are obviously things he has never encountered and one of those is moving cars. He goes frantic when a car passes, lunging and barking, although he is perfectly fine with stationery vehicles and with being inside a car. High prey drive may contribute also.
Pogo also barks frantically at the washing machine while it is filling with water. He had a bark at the large bag I carry with me. I feel he’s not been exposed to enough different things in his life, and lead walking beside roads is something he probably has never done before.
It is tempting to be cross and vocal when a dog behaves like this, but it does no good at all – in fact the contrary. Nor does ‘reassuring’ or treating which will only validate how he is feeling. Pogo needs to be slowly and gradually habituated to these things. It is an established fact that forcing a dog into situations he can’t cope with will most likely make things a lot worse, as does punishment, scolding and tight physical control which will result in discomfort. In his past a newspaper has obviously been used on Pogo. If a paper is lifted he cowers and runs.
A psychological approach to curing fears is altogether different, if slower, with permanent results and a confident, fearless dog.
Soon Pogo should be chilled around the washing machine – if his owners patiently follow my plan to the letter. It will be the same around traffic if the walking strategies are followed. He has landed on his feet with this family – and they are very fortunate to have such a wonderful little dog.
Latest email received two and a half months after my visit: “Now, thinking back to the early days, it doesn’t seem possible how far we have come. To think back then that we were ready to give him up and put it down to a bad experience seems a lifetime ago. Once again, I thank you for your encouragement with our perseverance, life without him now would be unthinkable. He has been with us 12wks now and he has his paws firmly under the table. He has learnt how to play and enjoy life as a young dog, enjoys lengthy walks daily (usually in the evening after dinner) and is constantly on the go with our daughter playing, cuddled up and getting plenty of love. The two of them have become inseparable.
In your words, when we adopted Pogo, ‘he wasn’t what we signed up for’ and having been our first rescue dog was a real eye opener, but now I would urge anyone to give a ‘rescue dog’ a chance. If you are prepared to put in the work, the love you receive in return is unconditional.
The hoover is no longer a problem, he has stopped trying to kill it. The washing machine has become part of daily life. He still barks at certain things he hears when out in the garden, but that is usually to let us know someone is around. The normal everyday noises no longer bother him…. He is just far more settled and trusting in us to protect him from what he considers are the bad things in life. He really enjoys his walks and has met so many new friends and walking buddies. His recall (without any distractions) is going well. He walks well on his short lead, but out on long walks we have him on a 20ft lead to give him a little freedom…Despite his strange way with some objects he has become a super dog and we love him very much. He makes us laugh so much with his puppy traits and is so full of fun and zest for life. To think this little star of a dog could have been so close to being put to sleep in the Pound”.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
30.01.2012
chasing cars, chasing traffic, chasing wheels
Golden Cocker Spaniel Harvey is subdued and scared much of the time. His people do doggy daycare and he used to enjoy the company of the other dogs. However, after a very unfortunate experience when he himself had been left somewhere with inadequate supervision and he was attacked by a much larger dog resulting in a fight, he has never been the same since.
His fear is evident. He is constantly on edge. He growls when looked at or approached by another dog – even a puppy. Just sometimes it has gone to the next stage – a lot of noise sounding like an attack but fortunately no damage done.
Being a dog sitter, this isn’t easy for the lady as poor Harvey just wants to escape, so he stays by himself out of the way in his own room while the other dogs take over his kitchen. When he growls he is scolded or old No. This is a natural human reaction when our dogs do this, but unfortunately it makes matters a lot worse. It adds to the general stress. The dog is scared not bad and will be very confused. Harvey, having growled, will then go somewhere and shake. I suspect this is because he is scared of the humans’ reaction. Don’t get me wrong, they love him dearly and do all they can to show him that they do. He is a very sensitive dog.
Harvey feels scared and helpless, and these other dogs have invaded his home.
This is another case of a dog who needs building up very slowly indeed, a few minutes at a time.
All the time he is in the company of the other dogs the owners need to keep quiet and calm. Scolding and noise is totally the wrong response to my mind and probably has escalated the situation. He needs to be shown an alternative behaviour – what he should be doing. If he is becoming stressed then I would remove him from the situation for a while and try again later. By keeping him out of the way altogether nothing will improve.
They also need to tighten up their general leadership skills so that Harvey won’t feel he needs to protect them or himself – protection should be their job.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
29.01.2012
Cocker Spaniel, Scared, Uncategorized, growling, scared of other dogs
Blaze is a four-year-old Collie – maybe Collie X. He lives with two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels in a lovely family with two little girls and three cats. He is wonderful with both the little girls and the cats – and the other two dogs.
He has attacked other dogs several times when out on walks, but never causing damage. His owners are very careful, but a week ago he attacked a puppy. They had been walking with a friend and several other dogs and had also met two Labradors. It was near the end of the walk. Because of Blaze’s previous history, whenever they saw a new dog, the lady would catch Blaze and put a muzzle on him. On this occasion she wasn’t quick enough.
They are very responsible dog owners and the lady is devastated for the injured puppy which is why they called me in.
Blaze would never show any aggression to a human. He is biddable and loving if somewhat demanding and lacking in manners. As we chatted, they began to realise that the dogs, Blaze in particular, get away with behaviours that would never be tolerated from their children – standing on the sofa, walking over them, pawing and nudging for constant attention.
Before they even set out on a walk there is huge excitement. The dogs charge out ahead and pull the lady down the road. Due to a certain lack of respect in other aspects of life, it’s unlikely that Blaze, when off lead, will feel there is any reason why he should come back straight away when called if there is something else he needs to do – like warn off an approaching dog.
At home Blaze is restless. He paces. He is demanding. He looks permanently anxious. He is most settled when nobody is about.
If the exact circumstances preceding these attacks could be remembered, I would bet that he had a build up of excitement and stimulation. He is permanently stressed to a certain extent, and it won’t take too much more to drive him over the edge. When he sees a dog his humans panic, they catch him, put a muzzle on and so on – which must be transferring even more stress onto Blaze.
He must never again have the opportunity to attack dogs while off lead. Full stop.
Hard work needs to be done on his recall and his relationship with his owners so that he feels that they are sufficiently important to come back to immediately when they call him. With work he should be able to leave the house calmly, to walk happily and comfortably down the road on a loose lead. They will be careful not to overdue the stimulation that can come from long bouts of play. Sometimes too much exercise can worse than not enough, and it is interesting that the final bad attack happened at the end of a long walk with lots of action, when one would have expected him to be tired and satisfied.
In a calm state of mind Blaze is unlikely to suddenly ‘go’. With a better balanced relationship with his owners, he will obey pronto when the call ‘come’.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
26.01.2012
Attacking puppy, Border Collie, Cav, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Collie, Uncategorized, attacking dog
Flossy was not happy with my looking at her to take her photo. She was yawning, licking her lips and her nose, and her ears were back.
Flossy is in ‘Last Chance Saloon’. She has bitten her male owner about six times – once so seriously he had to go to A & E, and last week she suddenly attacked the lady for the first time. She has never bitten anyone else though.
She is a very nervy dog, and in the name of love and kindness the family are feeding into this by over-stimulating her. Her stress levels are permanently high – topped up by two walks a day where she is so scared before leaving that she shakes, by excessive excited ball, tuggy and chase games – mostly initiated by herself as she will pester till she gets her own way, and by adult family members who wind her up big time.
In this heightened state, she will much of the time be ‘ready to go‘. Nearly all the biting occasions are when a hand has suddenly gone down into her space. Humans don’t see it like that – they think they put their hand down to pick something up near her, or to tuck a cover in, or to wipe something from her nose – but to Flossy it is merely a hand coming quickly into her space. It may follow her having been denied something she wants, or told to do something like get off the sofa.
The very kind gentleman behaves like Flossy’s hand-maiden. While the relationship is like this she will have no respect (we are not talking about love here). A respectful dog would never growl or bare her teeth which have been regular occurrences from the start, let alone bite. The lady has escaped being bitten till now because she is stronger. The gentleman is devastated at the thought that his beloved dog will need to be put to sleep if she bites again. Unintentionally, though, he is killing her with kindness. Despite all the hand-feeding, large tub of treats, enticing, playing, petting and obeying Flossy, she is not a happy dog. She is a stressed and scared dog in need of her humans to be her ‘rock’.
Such a big change in the humans’ behaviour is needed that I hope they can manage it. The only way a dog’s behaviour will change is if that of her humans changes. She is not a bad dog. She is misunderstood, she is highly strung. Her start in life was bought from a gypsy for cash as a puppy with nothing known about her past, and she may have inherited some instability. She needs different treatment from a normal stable dog. I shall be there to help them all the way.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
23.01.2012
Biting, Border Collie, Collie, Stress, Uncategorized
This is Ben, a magnificent Northern Inuit age 15 months. He lives with another Inuit and two elderly black Labradors.
Ben is a typical adolescent and he is pushing boundaries. Like a teenager, he sometimes resists being told what to do – especially by the lady. There is some conflict in the way the dogs are ‘brought up’. The male owner is a strict disciplinarian and his rules are obeyed. The lady is softer.
It was a treat to be in the house with such well-mannered dogs. They are very well trained where commands are concerned, I would say possibly somewhat over-regulated. They have to jump through what I consider are unnecessary hoops before they get their food, for instance. A dog given too many commands doesn’t have a chance to work out for himself what he should be doing. There may be too much reliance upon the owners controlling the dogs, and not the dogs controlling themselves.
A difficulty with this is that the dog learns to respect the firm disciplinarian at the expense of the weaker person, so when she the tries to control the adolescent Ben he revolts. And then what can she do?
I was called out because Ben had freaked out a training class with the lady. He was obviously severely stressed already by various things happening in the class and decided that he wasn’t going to do what she wanted. He jumped at her quite aggressively and grabbed her arms, bruising her. She was devastated and in tears. The trainer resorted to putting a choke chain on him. The reason for his going to class in the first place was to socialise him with other dogs, but being told ‘Leave It’ harshly whenever he went to sniff another dog will not have been helping him to learn natural, calm ways of encountering other dogs.
I suggested they abandon the class altogether. It is simply too stressful and counterproductive, and is damaging Ben’s relationship with the lady. He knows all the commands he could ever need. I don’t say this of all classes but they need to be chosen carefully, and any advocating choke chains (pain) I would run a mile from.
The gentleman could quite happily carry on with the dogs as he is, but not the lady, so they will both need to do things a bit differently so that the dogs don’t get mixed messages. They need the chance to learn self-control.
Ben can learn to approach other dogs without fear or aggression if given time and support to work it out for himself, rather than being shouted at – ‘No’ and ‘Leave It’, forced into situations for which he’s not ready, or distracted with treats which teaches him nothing. Rewarding him with treats for being calm when looking at another dog is a different matter.
Training is one thing; in many ways Leadership is another. To behave like a ‘dog’ leader doesn’t require commands. Dogs don’t talk, after all.
Five weeks after my visit, this email: “Last night there were no dogs around so I let him off for a while. Then out of the woods comes a White Labrador and Ben races over to him. Oh god I think here we go especially when i realised it was a male showing dominance but no they greeted each other nicely, no growling, no noise, no squaring up……..They played!!!! They played really nicely… Ben didnt even react when the lab tried to hump his head. I can’t tell you what joy that gave me. I know we’ve got a long way to go but it was wonderful to see him let down his guard and be a young dog for a while. I recognise that it will probably take months to get Ben to the point I want him to be at; I would like to be able to walk down the road and pass a dog on the other side without incident – that will be a major milestone for me. It’ll be a while yet but we feel we’re on the right path”.
We’re both using the whistle and cheese which works brilliantly. Yesterday I couldn’t see him, looking round I realised it was because he was walking with his nose right at the back of my knee – that made me happy. I’m certainly more confident and I’m discovering more about Ben’s triggers.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
21.01.2012
Inuit, control
Two days ago I visited Ollie, a black Labrador, who is three years old. From the moment he went to live with his family as a puppy he attached himself to their older Labrador, Zac, in preference to the humans. Zac was a confident dog and Ollie was very reliant upon him. Zac was confident with other dogs out on walks and Ollie felt protected.
Sadly, a couple of months ago Zac died. Only then did it become apparent just how reliant on him Ollie had been. His confidence collapsed. He developed separation problems, crying and howling when left alone. On walks without Zac’s calming influence he now lunges and yelps when he sees another dog.
Quite naturally the family have been compensating for his distress which has encouraged other unwanted behaviours like barking for attention and over-attachment.
Now they have a new puppy, Maisie, who is a Labradoodle – cross between a miniature Poodle and a Labrador (guess which the mother had to be!).
Maisie is a calm and stable puppy which is fortunate. Having now got used to her, Ollie feels he owns her. He won’t let her out of his sight without stressing – just like he does his lady owner. When Maisie has been taken out Ollie seems to almost panic, and when she is brought back he barks at her – scolding her like one might a child who had wandered off in a supermarket. Since Zac died he has taken on on guard duty, with a lot of barking at passing people and noises. The family fear that he will soon start to influence Maisie’s behaviour also.
Poor Ollie, with a completely different temperament to Zac, simply can’t cope with taking over his role. This is a job for his humans. They are going to tighten up with the rules and boundaries which will make him feel more secure. They will cut down his opportunities to be on lookout duty. They will gain control over food. They will relieve him of so much decision-making. They will make walks more enjoyable for Ollie and for themselves by approaching walking and meeting dogs in a different way.
Ollie is a beautiful dog with a sensitive nature who needs to be given confidence. This is not done by spoiling him. He is now getting calm, consistent and confident leadership from his family members and they are seeing a change already.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
14.01.2012
Black labrador, Labradoodle, Labrador, puppy, walk
Riley (on the left) and Maddie are two absolutely beautiful little Maltese Terriers. They are both about seven years old.
They are adored by their lady owner – her ‘babies’.
Riley started marking all over the house a short while ago.
I believe that it’s no coincidence that Riley’s marking started and one or two other behaviours deteriorated since the lady was at home for the month. There can be a lot of pressure put upon the dogs in a way, with humans on their case with touching and attention and mixed messages. Maddie is a more laid back individual and not so affected.
Many people who adore their dogs do things in the name of love that I would myself see as quite unkind, and some of the things I advocate may seem unkind to them.
To scold or shout at a dog, even put his nose in it, for toileting or marking in the house seems to me not kind at all. To constantly touch and cuddle a dog also seems to me to be unkind, but owners usually see it otherwise. Leaving a dog to decide when and what he eats, even sharing their own food, I believe is not fair to a dog. People usually see it otherwise and the lady says she would feel dreadful if she didn’t leave food around all the time for them to graze on, and herself eat without letting the dogs have some.
People who dote on their dogs also feel it is OK to shout at their dogs when they bark at sounds outside, where I think it’s a lot kinder to help them out. They feel their dog should be at the door jumping and barking at people when they come in. I feel this is not kind. The dog should be somewhere else and saved from the stress.
People usually feel it’s kind to comfort and fuss a dog when it’s fearful of something like fireworks. I believe it reinforces the fear and actually makes things worse – so isn’t kind at all.
Adorable little lap dogs are, inside, dogs after all. A little bit of being treated like dogs can lift huge burdens from them. I am sure when Riley no longer feels that the decision making is his responsibility, when he has a few boundaries and rules, that he will stop marking.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
12.01.2012
Maltese Terrier, Toiletting indoors, Uncategorized, marking
They pulled the throw off the back of their leather sofa to reveal a gaping hole full of white stuffing, like snow, and the wooden frame!
This was Charlie’s handiwork over the past four weeks since he arrived from the Blue Cross. He was originally brought over from Ireland at three months old with his mother and has been in kennels for the past nine months – nine important months in the life of a one-year-old adolescent dog.
When Charlie is left alone he may chew the door frame and leave puddles of drool on the floor due to his stress, or he may chew the sofa. Because it doesn’t happen every time I suspect there may be two separate issues here – separation distress and boredom. After all, he has probably never been alone before as he was kennelled with his mother. In a kennel he will not have been taught some basic rules of living in a house – like don’t eat the furniture, nor reshape it into a comfortable nest full of comfy white stuffing!
On one occasion they videod him and he mooched about and lay down – chilled and settled. Possibly an external noise starts him off, or possibly he simply gets bored. In the kennels they were shut down at 4pm and left alone until the morning. I expect anything in the kennel availabe to chew would be fair game to a young dog. He needs to be caught in the act – set up intentionally perhaps. He needs to be taught that furniture isn’t for chewing and shown what can be chewed instead, using patience and encouragement.
Separation issues need working on also. He has only been with them for a month and has settled in amazingly well considering his nine months living in rescue kennels. He is obedient, friendly and not over-excitable. He doesn’t jump up and he’s not demanding for attention. He pulls on walks but has probably never been shown otherwise and is another case of correction and force having the opposite effect to what is wanted. Someone said that if you pull a dog back, his brain says forward.
Charlie is brilliant with other dogs. He has no ounce of aggression in his body. A wonderful dog.
About six weeks later: “Charlie, high and (not low) lows, mostly high points though. The good points there has been a significant reduction in any new damage we still have to make sure things are put away when we leave, the slobbering has again significantly reduced when we are out and he is more than happy to go to his bed of his own accord in the evenings and the day even when we are here. Walking is much much better. He is good with other dogs when out and will come back to me without being called until we get close, this gives me an opportunity to decide whether he plays or not. His recall is the one issue, its getting better and I have to say even when he does go his return is much quicker, the dog walker says he is much calmer and I have to agree. We don’t overly fuss him but he is more than happy for a play and cuddle when we want. We will stick with the programme and review in a couple of weeks, the lighter evenings will make it easier to train him when we get back from work”. About five weeks after this I was told that Charlie had started to damage the sofa again. This is what happens if the people go back to their old ways – so does the dog. Lack of consistency is very difficult for a dog.
It’s now eleven months since I started working with them, and I have just had this email: ‘Sorry it has been so long since we contacted you but after the last advice we just got stuck in and can’t believe how the time has gone. Anyway we thought you may like to see a couple of photos of our w onderful HAPPY dog Charlie. We have overcome the chewing and separation issues, he is settled very happy, his return is still being worked on but improves each week, indeed he does always come back. I am so glad we stuck with him, despite loosing a whole leather settee as he is a wonderful companion and quite a character…….. I took him back to Blue Cross where we got him from and they could not believe the difference. He is now a confident, happy pooch who is an established family member. Thanks for the advice, we have followed it and the results – well you can see’.
09.01.2012
Labrador, Separation Anxiety, Separation Anxiety, Uncategorized, chewing, left alone
Bobby is a five-year-old chocolate working Cocker Spaniel. He is an unusual mixture of easy and difficult, well trained and wilful!
His male owner had him for four years before meeting his partner, and they don’t always agree on how Bobby should be treated. She says it’s like taking on a stepchild with the various emotions involved. If the couple are talking to each other or not paying Bobby attention, he will bark and bark until he gets his own way. He also jumps all over them, stands on them, walks all over them – even standing on the back of the sofa above them at times.
Bobby is very well trained so far as commands are concerned so long as there is a food reward – he will do anything food. The downside is that he will eat anything he can get including underwear! He is a real pest while they eat their meals – staring, jumping and barking.
He repeatedly asks to go out into the garden because the clever boy has worked out this is a way to get food! He scratches at the door, they let him out, then he scratches to come back in but runs off until they bribe him in with food. He may even negotiate for better food!
On walks he pulls like a train down the road, but off lead he is a dream, never going more than about ten metres and always willing to come back (for food of course). He is like a dog magnet. He loves them and they love him.
Some rules around food will be put in place, patience will be needed until he learns that his particular methods of getting attention don’t work, and going back to basics with lead work whilst using a completely different approach should make walking with Bobby a pleasure.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
02.01.2012
Barking, Barking for attention, Cocker Spaniel, Uncategorized
Both George and Ruby have come to their new home in the past year. George is confident for the most part but Ruby, who had been found wandering on a dual carriageway, is easily scared.
If it were not for the fact that at times of high arousal George will go for Ruby – nothing too serious as yet – their owners could carry on as they are.
Ruby is easily intimidated if approached directly or when she knows something is required of her – most especially when they want her to go either out into the garden to toilet or for a walk. She needs to be treated sensitively and carefully, without too much in the way of demands made upon her. There are other ways to go about getting her outside happily with a bit of forward planning.
George is King of the Castle! A bit too much homage is going on! He is twelve years old, in very good shape for his age, and it’s hard for them not to dance to his tune!
Some basic rules and boundares along with removing all the decision-making from their shoulders is going to make all the difference to these two little dogs. The episodes of George going for Ruby only happen when the two dogs are stressed or aroused – and only when the owners are about. This is a clue as to where the pressure is coming from, in spite of – or because of – the great love they have for their dogs. Too much is being asked of them, and they need to be allowed a bit more time just to be….dogs.
They are incredibly lucky to have ended up in such a wonderful and caring home and have certainly landed on their four feet!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
19.12.2011
Aggressive to other dogs, Jack Russell, Uncategorized
Yesterday I visited nine-week-old Tibetan Terrier Molly’s new home just a couple of hours after she arrived. The couple want to do all they can to start off the right way with their gorgeous little ball of black fluff.
We were able to work out the best place in the house for her to spend most of her time – somewhere she can easily get to the door leading to the garden and somewhere that her inevitable toileting mishaps won’t spoil the carpet.
We worked out where she would sleep at night-time. They are using a crate. Molly has never been all alone before and we want her to feel secure. It is a lot better to give a puppy company to start with and gradually wean her into independence, rather than to force her into hours of solitude, howling for company. This can easily then lead to panic whenever she is left alone.
From the start she needs to be shown that use of teeth and mouthing isn’t welcome, but in a fair and kind way that a puppy understands and without scolding. She needs to be gently discouraged from jumping up. She is already grabbing trousers and feet, so playing chase games will only encourage this. It’s important she’s not taught through play the very things they don’t want her to do.
I gave them tips I have gathered for successful toilet training including some that people don’t think of, like if the dog is always carried outside she will find it harder to learn to walk to the right place herself; like when praise is lavished on her for ‘going’, she might think this is for the act itself rather than for going outside.
It’s important to give her quiet times in their company without too much fussing and to take no notice of her sometimes so she learns independence and self-confidence; to teach her what behaviours are NOT wanted by showing her instead what IS wanted – ‘come away – good girl – do this instead’.
We discussed the best food for Molly. Cheap food is false economy. Her little body and bones will thrive best on good nutrition, and it can affect her behaviour as well.
Finally, the next few weeks are crucial for introducing her to people, children, cars, bikes, vacuum cleaners and so on in a careful way so that she grows up to be a confident dog. Her early experiences need to be positive ones. They should not let friends and family overwhelm her with lots of excited noise, too much picking up and especially teasing. They should keep calm, allow her to sniff them and explore them, and if they have to pick her up to do so gently. Don’t allow children to get too excited or noisy.
In a couple of weeks I shall be going again.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
16.12.2011
Tibetan Terrier, Uncategorized, puppy
Max is three years old. He is gentle and affectionate, but becoming increasingly confused and nervous. The photo on the right shows hiim yawning because the camera was pointed at him – typical signs of uneasiness are yawning and lip-licking.
His companion dog died in August and things have gone downhill for him since. His lady owner is lavishing far too much physical affection on him which she is the first to admit is mostly for her own benefit whilst giving him no boundaries at all. She jumps to his bidding, even in the middle of the night. In the past he had the other dog, who was by nature a lot more confident, to share this burden.
To add to Max’ problems, family members and friends who visit daily are giving all sorts of mixed messages.
He is shouted at for licking them whilst being encouraged to jump onto them. He is more or less force-fed from human plates whilst refusing to eat his own food – though he is partial to doughnuts. He only has to bark at the box, and he is given one. He is becoming increasingly scared out on walks, running back to the car at the slightest sudden noise. In fact he is reluctant to leave the house even to go into the garden to toilet, and he makes himself last nearly twenty four hours some days.
When I was there the slightest trigger sent him either into the corner or in front of the lady, shaking. She understandably then fussed and comforted him which will be reinforcing his fear (‘come to mummy she will protect you from the big bad wolf’!). However, she is powerless to protect him from real threats, like visitors who shout and knee him for jumping up or who threaten to force him to go out and ‘behave’ when he is scared.
I know the lady is on board with my advice. I sincerely hope she has influence over her visiting family and friends – at least to the extent of leaving Max in another room where he would be perfectly happy – and insist he is left alone.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
13.12.2011
Scared, Staff, Staffie, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Uncategorized
Sabre is a rescue German Shepherd, probably around eight years old. He has a very friendly temperament. In the evenings poor Sabre can become almost obsessively attention seeking and stressed.
It took Sabre getting on for three hours to calm down completely. All evening he was whining for attention, jumping up on his owners (he is a large dog), pacing, squeaking, barking and persistently asking to go out – anything to get them to react to his demands. He has learnt that this behaviour does eventually get him what he wants because it is so hard not to give in, and now he just carries on and on, becoming more and more worked up. Even when he wins the attention he continues to want more. His stress was evident by the panting, licking of his lips and nose, and excessive drinking of water.
We worked on how to react appropriately – like another stable dog would do if pestered. It was lovely to see him eventually lie down, sigh and relax. Soon he will be able to get plenty of attention – when he is polite and calm, and not always on demand.
Sable himself is very good at giving other dogs messages that say he doesn’t want to be jumped on and pestered so I am sure he will get the message if it’s done in a way he understands. He’s not interested in other dogs and wants to be left alone, which is fair enough.
An unfortunate incident happened recently. He was out with his gentleman owner when two very boisterous smaller dogs ran up to him. The gentleman put Sable on lead and then tried to walk away. Sable would have been doing his best to ignore the dogs, turning away from them and looking away – giving all the doggy signals he could that he wanted to be left alone, but they simply followed and would not give up. He will have warned, shown his teeth and growled and still he was ignored. The owner of the other dogs never called them back. So Sabre, as a totally logical thing to do in his mind and after all his very reasonable and patient warnings had been ignored, bit one of the dogs on the tail. Sable was blamed.
If we have off-lead dogs, then it is our reponsibility to call them back if we see a dog put on lead. There must be a reason. It’s our duty to control our dogs and the poor dog on lead who is trapped is all too often blamed. If dogs don’t come back when called, then they should be kept on lead around other dogs until intensive recall work has been done. So far as Sable is concerned, his owners need to know how to react as his leader and protector – how to step in on his behalf and how to spot the signs when he has had too much. They also need to reduce his general stress level so that he will be more tolerant.
Email received about five days after my visits – and they have gone from strength to strength: “We have had some unsettled evenings for the first couple of hours. I don’t want to jinx it, but sabre has been fantastic today!. We’re amazed that in such a short amount of time he’s come so far. We’re looking forward to calm walks! We’re still feeling very confident and comfortable with all of the points, the hardest thing has been not getting him excited again once we have him calm…On the whole, early days though it is, we feel already that a huge amount of progress has been made!”
Nine months after we met, things still going well: “We are doing great! I was away (working abroad) for about five months and was amazed to see the difference in Sabre on my return home. Ben has been following all the new rules you gave us….Walks are relaxed now and Sabre seems pretty disinterested in other dogs on the whole…..Even when I walk him on my own I experience no problems with him. So on behalf of all three of us, thank you! Thank you very much for being able to point out our flaws and helping us to find a resolution for them and for Sabre!
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
07.12.2011
Alsation, German Shepherd
When Miniature Schnauzer Bertie, now fourteen months old, was picked up at the breeder at eight weeks old, he was shaking with fear. This is not a good start. Already he should have been handled and played with by various different people, adults and children, he should have been introduced to household things like vacuum cleaners and maybe even taken for a brief ride in a car. He should have spent time in the the house and time outside so that he learns to tell the difference for toileting purposes.
There is a critical time in a puppy’s development for introducing new things, and experiences both good and bad can have a lasting effect. Ideally there should be a variety of experiences – all good ones.
A consequence is that, through fear, Bertie will nip people – especially the couple’s grandchildren. He may suddenly fly at them from across the room. He barks and growls when people come in the house. He is scared of everyday items and unknown things. He is very protective and on guard which can be a big burden brought about by insecurity. Looking at his picture it’s hard to believe, but day times are spent in quite a highly aroused state – often looking for trouble! A stable, calm dog will probably sleep about seventeen hours a day.
Bertie now needs to learn that he is not the centre of the universe along with the responsibilities that carries, and to become more confident in general. He is a well-loved little dog whose owners are already doing many of the ‘right things’. A puppy that is already scared of people at eight weeks is going to be harder work. I have already experience of this with my own German Shepherd, Milly, who was born in a puppy farm and had no real human contact until she was twelve weeks old when her first owner bought her.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
05.12.2011
Fear, German Shepherd, Miniature Schnauzer, Uncategorized, mouthing, nipping
Rex, a Border Collie found as a stray in Ireland a couple of years ago, shipped to Wood Green Animal Shelter and now four years old, is a dog you would be proud to have. He lives with a more elderly Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who is now slowing down.
The dogs belong to a lady and her two daughters who share their care. At home there are no problems with the dogs, but it’s outside that Rex is causing a few problems. He has some very good points – he is good with most other dogs – if sometimes feeling a bit trapped when on lead, and he responds quite well to a whistle.
A few months ago the poor lady dislocated her shoulder with Rex’ lunging and circling, and she is still receiving treatment. He is a big chunky dog for a Border Collie – he may be mixed with something else. The other day she was pulled over by him as he suddenly crossed in front of her to check out a couple of dogs. The lady has tried all sorts of equipment and methods, all of which rely upon ‘control’ and ‘correction’ to stop him pulling. We need to go back to basics and get him wanting not to pull, to realise how nice walks are when walking like there is no lead at all. We need to change Rex’ mind-set, and that of his humans.
Because of the damaged shoulder (caused by Rex), the lady has to have a special seat belt which costs £200. What has Rex now done? When left in the car he has eaten through two of them!
We need to look at ways to manage this situation so it simply can’t happen again, whilst stopping him feeling that he needs to do it. I think we have got to the bottom of why it happens. If he were calm with no stress and no distress, he would not want do it.
In order to get things right outside, we also need to make sure all the interaction and dog parenting/leadership at home is in place in order to set firm foundations, otherwise it’s like the proverbial ‘house built on sand‘.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
03.12.2011
Border Collie, Uncategorized
Charlie is a thirteen-month-old Westie/Cavalier King Charles Spaniel mix. The cutest looking little dog you can imagine. He shares part of his life with an older Cavalier KC called Tess who is nine and who was taken on by the couple’s mother a year ago.
Charlie barked madly at me when I arrived – I had asked them to take no notice of her so I could see what he would do if not checked. Usually when a dog barks like this it is because he is scared, but when Charlie finally stopped – I asked the lady to put his lead on to take him out but he then quietened straight away – it was very strange because he was showing no signs of stress or anxiety at all. No panting. Nothing. He sat down calmly. This was my first clue as to what Charlie was like!
He is used to humans paying massive homage and I was ignoring him!
Charlie is a Very Important Dog. He makes most of the decisions in his life and his owners do his bidding. This is no real problem at home and Charlie, being a confident little character, copes well. However, when he’s with the lady’s mother, sister and Tess he is a different dog. In some ways he can’t cope with the adulation. When out, he is really scared of other dogs like he feels exposed and unprotected. His problems are most apparent by his behaviour around poor Tess. Tess is terrorised by Charlie.
When Tess is given attention, mostly by the sister or when Tess is either on her or in front of her, Charlie will go for her. He goes for her ears and has inflicted injury on both poor Tess and the sister when she separates them, resulting in a visit to hospital. On walks and off lead, he body slams Tess and now she is limping. In nearly every case the attacks happen in the presence of the sister. She makes the most fuss of him but also gets the most impatient with him. He will see her as unpredictable and confusing.
There are a lot of things in Charlie’s life that need changing. He needs more proper parenting and less adoration! He is a cracking little chap and deserves to have the weight of responsibility taken from his little shoulders.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
02.12.2011
Cav, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Uncategorized, West Highland Terrier, attacking dog
Milli is in a muddle! When the family took her in three years ago at just one year old she had been abused and had a bad head injury. She is stressed, restless, easily scared and in need of some rules and boundaries.
Milli lives with two other rescued Staffies, Magic who is eight and Lexi, age ten. It is a large family and a busy household with a lot going on. Whereas all the dogs have certain issues, Milli has problems in all areas, and the fact that all three dogs are in many ways in control of the household isn’t helping her. All three get overly excited before meals. All three get extremely excited before walks, so much so that Milli can’t cope and her crazy excitement and stress overflows and redirects into an attack on one of the other dogs. All three pull like mad on lead and are not good with other dogs.
Milly is on the move all d
ay, only settling down in the evening. She has to ‘own’ everything – if Lexi has a stick, Milli has to have it, if one of the other dogs has anything, Milli takes it. She may toilet indoors if left. When someone plays rough and tumble with one of the other dogs this is too much for Milli and she will go for him or her. Often she will eyeball Lexi, and if not distracted in time she will attack him. She jumps up and is demanding of attention. She is scared of all sorts of things.
It will be a great comfort to Milli to have some good ‘parenting’ where she no longer gets everything she demands when she demands it. It will transform Milli when everything possible is done to reduce her stress levels and keep her calm.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
01.12.2011
Staff, Staffie, Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Shandy is a fourteen month old German Shepherd, a friendly dog who in the circumstances is unbelievably stable. Not only does he lack any sort of boundaries, he is actively taught to do the very things that should be avoided. It is a tribute to his great personality that he is not aggressive or fearful – or both. In fact, I have very seldom watched while someone behaves in such an inappropriate way with their dog.
That they love Shandy goes without saying. He is adored. At the same time he is not treated with respect, and he is encouraged to show his humans no respect either. They may tell him to do something, but he takes no notice and they give up. He does exactly what he wants.
Shandy jumps up at them, he jumps all over them, he jumps up at visitors, he stands on the sofa pawing the man to share sweets with him; he literally walks all over them. He is encouraged by teasing kind of play to mouth and bite hands and feet.
While his owners are eating he will be staring, drooling and pawing so that they share their food with him.
On walks he is a problem. The only way they can handle him and stop the pulling is by using a Halti. He lunges and barks at cats and shows aggression to dogs he doesn’t know. This is hardly surprising. Outside in the big world he is trapped, attached by his lead to a man who is an unpredictable responsibility not a leader, or to the sensible young daughter who is very frustrated by the whole situation and who contacted me in the first place. She however is slight of build and unconfident when out with Shandy and he will sense this. Needless to say, off lead he only comes back when he is ready.
I can see Shandy’s behaviour taking a turn for the worse as he matures if they can’t somehow quite drastically change their ways which I fear they may not wish to do. He is a powerful dog. He does not need a silly playmate nor a servant. He needs to be taught good manners. He needs responsible ‘parenting’.
Shandy is, quite literally, being spoilt – ruined.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
23.11.2011
German Shepherd, Jumping up
Two divine little tousled looking dogs! Tilly is a three-year old terrier poodle cross, and Harry is five months old – a cross between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Poodle. If you look carefully at Tilly on the left – you may just find her nose!
Their lady owner is worried that some of Tilly’s not so good traits are rubbing off on Harry. These are mainly fairly manic barking when she hears noises, people or dogs from inside the house or garden, and her reactivity to other dogs on walks.
A year ago Tilly was attacked by an off-lead dog whilst she herself was on lead, suffering a nasty wound to her back. The lady was afraid she would be killed. Ever since and somewhat understandably Tilly has been much more wary of many dogs, though not all. She is infinitely patient with puppy Harry and always ready to play.
So many people I go to have had problems with their dog having been attacked which has resulted in walks where they have to be constantly on the lookout for other dogs. In an ideal world, if a dog owner sees another dog on-lead he should realise that there is probably a good reason and call his or her own dog back. Unfortunately many dogs with otherwise good recall go deaf when they see another dog. Even more unfortunately there are people who simply don’t care and have no control over their dogs – even being angry with the owner of the on-lead dog that shows fear aggression when their off-lead dog bounds up to it!
Life happens. You can’t go out anywhere nice without risking meeting dogs. Your choice is to play safe and only take road walks, or have a strategy for both dealing with approaching dogs and with rebuilding the confidence of your own dog in you. You should be seen as the leader and protector, and behave and act accordingly.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
22.11.2011
Aggressive to other dogs, Cavalier Poodle x, Poodle Terrier X
My photo doesn’t do beautiful 8-month old Springer Harry justice.
What is driving the couple mad is Harry’s whining! This mostly happens when they go upstairs and out of sight.
He seems to be fine when they are out, and he goes to bed happily at bedtime. He is quiet during the night….until….early in the morning! As soon as Harry hears movement upstairs he starts to whine and he seems to have an alarm clock in his head at weekends when they would like a lie-in. His whining becomes more insistent until it becomes yelping and is very hard to ignore.
In the past they would come down to him thinking he might want to go out, but on putting him back the noise would simply continue. If they leave him out of his room he simply cries at the bottom of the stairs. He has learnt that if he carries on for long enough someone will always come down to him eventually.
They had already decided to stop going downstairs to him, but when they eventually have to come down anyway he will for sure think it’s as a result of his whining, so whining is merely reinforced. To Harry whining works. This has to be broken. The first step is to make it quite clear that when they do come down it is not to see Harry – to simply walk past the gate (which he will be jumping up at) as though he’s not there. In their own good time they will go to him – but only when he is quiet. They will wait for his feet to be on the floor before opening the gate.
During the day he lies at the bottom of the stairs whining when anyone goes up – he has chewed some of the woodwork.
The result of unconsciously obeying Harry has only increased his stress. The humans need to let Harry understand that they can move around when and where they wish, and that he will remain where they wish, sometimes in his utility room bedroom, sometimes in the kitchen and only sometimes at the bottom of the stairs watching them disappear.
General tightening up of leadership skills will enable Harry to mature into a self-controlled adult dog.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
21.11.2011
Springer Spaniel, Uncategorized
This is Becky, a four-year-old Jack Russell. She is a superb little dog – very biddable – perhaps a little spoilt!
Becky is, however, easily stressed. This was evident by her excessive nose-licking. Her family hadn’t realised that this was a sign of anxiety – of Becky trying to calm herself. She can be thrown into a hyper state very easily. In the past this has unwittingly been encouraged. For instance, she will go over the top when she sees a bird or squirrel out of the window and start running from door to door, barking frantically. They let her out. Once outside she has to redirect this overwhelming stress onto something else so she attacks a toy instead. Rather than dealing with this so that Becky can calm down which would be a lot kinder, they believe that doing what Becky is demanding is kind – letting her out to deal with it herself.
As a dog she is naturally on look-out duty, but she shouldn’t then feel it’s her responsibility to deal with the problem. Imagine you have a child and you tell him – ‘keep an eye open for the lion that has escaped from the zoo’. Then, at the window, he starts yelling, “The lion! The lion! It’s in the garden”. What do you do? Let your child out to deal with it? Or do you tell him to shut up? No – I think not!
However, this is not the reason I was called – but amongst other things contributes to how she’s reacting to a new baby in the family. The have a tiny grandchild now, weighing less than Becky. Becky is fixated. In the same room as the baby Becky is very anxious as one can tell from the nose-licking and paw-lifting. She whines. She had tried to grab the baby’s foot. She’s not being aggressive, but here is something that smells fascinating and that makes noises she simply doesn’t understand which she can’t control. And Becky is accustomed to controlling the people around her!
While I was there we worked at stress relief around the baby and associating Becky being relaxed around her with nice things. We watched out for and respected Becky’s stress signals.
I happened to call later in the day and they had been making such good progress that they pushed ahead too fast, letting their guard down and putting Becky into a situation she was not ready to cope with. This was a warning that these things take time. Becky needs to be well within her comfort zone, on lead around the baby whilst out of actual reach before getting near enough to sniff her, and then only when she’s asleep and quiet – long before removing the lead. This will take days, maybe weeks, not just a couple of hours. One thing at a time!
The whole process needs to be against a background of general de-stressing and Becky learning that she doesn’t actually need to be in control of the humans in her life. What a relief that will be to her.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
18.11.2011
Barking, Jack Russell, baby and dog
This is the second home for all three little dogs. They have had the eldest, Jimmy, for several years – he is twelve. Tina on the left, age two, came to live with them about seven months ago, and Guy (below), a one-year-old Chihuahua Jack Russell X, joined them a few weeks ago.
They are lovely little dogs, all of them. They are friendly and affectionate, though Jimmy is now old and may keep himself to himself.
What is worrying Guy’s owners is that when he is comfortably asleep on the sofa, he bites when he doesn’t want to be picked up, especially when they want him to go out before bedtime. They have worked out ways of tricking him like putting a soft igloo bed on the sofa for him to sleep in, and carrying it to the door and tipping him out, but this doesn’t solve the problem of his not wanting to go. He should not need to be carried – he should walk. It seems he is quite scared of going outside in the big garden at night. We have a plan that I am sure will work, and he needs to be accompanied until his confidence grows. It is early days.
Another thing that needs working on is Tina’s recall. She does come back – but not until she is ready!
The final point that I feel needs work – but doesn’t so much concern them – is the jumping up both at them and at visitors. Because the dogs are so small they find it acceptable – nice even – for welcomes to be like this. However, they might see it in a different light if they were German Shepherds or Labradors! It would be consider pushy and impolite rather than endearing. Would our children be allowed to jump all over people when they arrive and fly all over them when they sit down? I don’t think so. I am a believer in ‘four on the floor’ unless invited otherwise.
Do we want our dogs, quite literally, to be ‘walking all over us‘? Guy is wanting respect for his personal space, hence the biting, but we should also expect him to respect ours.
About a month later: “Guy is just so much better in his obedience and behaviour. His growling and biting has improved tremendously and he is generally much better behaved. He is, in fact, becoming a very loving and friendly dog on the whole. We are both much happier that we understand Guy better and that both dogs seem much more settled”.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
12.11.2011
Biting, Jack Russell, Jumping up, Terrier, recall
Millie and Max are seven months old, and supposedly brother and sister. They were bought from a pet shop at ten weeks of age so nobody will ever know.They certainly look very different, and Max is a lot bigger. He’s like a little fox!
They are delightful and full of puppy exuberance – Max in particular. Millie is a little more anxious.
The main problem is constant toileting indoors – everywhere. There are puppy pads in all the rooms. I feel because the pads are impregnated these little dogs are in effect being taught to go indoors. It’s Catch 22 because without the pads they would be peeing even more on the carpets – and pooing as well.
From the start they were toileting several times in the night, even when shut in a crate. The crate was abandoned because of the mess they made. By the age of ten weeks old most puppies will have been introduced to the difference between indoors and outdoors, and it’s clear these little dogs had not. The problems had already started. Once home from the pet shop, they were so tiny, Millie in particular, that rules and boundaries were not properly introduced. The dogs, sleeping on the lady’s bed, will get off wee and poo several times in the night – mostly on the pads but not always.
This is a huge problem as you may imagine. Max also now marks up the curtain as well. Millie peed four times while I was there, once under the table, and the other times on puppy pads. She does lots of small puddles. I did wonder whether this constant peeing from Millie could be due to a medical problem, but she been checked over by the vet. She is usually carried outside, but this way she will never learn that part of the process is walking to the back door.
My view is that their terrotiry should be cut down from run of the house to just kitchen and utility room, unless they are being watched – and then they should not have freedom to wander. I would advise the same thing at night. Shut them in the utility and leave them to it – but this would probably be too big a leap for the young lady. Understandably;).
Puppy training needs to go back to square one. They are praised massively for going outside, but maybe they think they are praised for going, irrespective of where. Praise needs to be gentle, not distracting, and if a little reward is dropped on the grass in front of them as they finish they may start to get the connection with toileting and grass. Visits outside will need to be very frequent, after meals, after waking, after playing, when the dogs are restless, and at least every waking thirty minutes.
They may need to try different food, because four, five or even more poos a day is excessive. The more complete the nutrition, the less waste there will be to pass through!
The final element which needs to be put in places is reduction of excitement and stress. There is persistent jumping up and maybe nipping when the lady owners come home, and at visitors. Walks are pulling affairs with anxiety around other dogs. They fly all over the chairs and people.
Stress, excitement and anxiety lead to peeing and possibly pooing. Stress and excitement also lead to drinking. Drinking leads to peeing! A few calm rules and boundaries will help enormously, I’m sure.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
09.11.2011
Toiletting indoors
Look at her! How wonderful! Rosie is a ten week old Cocker Spaniel puppy and she has been in her new home for four days.
I really like it when I am called in at the beginning. Starting off right saves so many problems later on.
I have been able to give Rosie’s family a few tips on the basics – toilet training, no teeth, chewing, retrieving things from her and having her walking around next to them without a lead. Visitors should not be allowed to overwhelm her.
Having had two puppies in two years myself means I have recent personal experience and have learnt a few little tricks of my own! Pickle my own Cocker Spaniel is now fifteen months old, and Zara is my nineteen week old Golden Labrador puppy. Because of how I have been with her since she was eight weeks old, she will follow me if I wish her to, she will come to me when I click my tongue or call, she never nips and she will ‘go pee’ when I ask her to – even if it is only to squeeze out a drop!
Now is the time to discourage Rosie from jumping up. It’s so much easier if, from the start, attention is given with her feet on the floor. If she sits on laps at the kitchen table then she will learn to jump on people while they are eating, so that’s not a good idea! There won’t be indoor toileting problems later on because she will be taken out very frequently. When Zara was Rosie’s age I kept a chart for a few days – she peed on average eighteen times a day! This proves just how often a puppy needs to be taken out in her waking hours. She needs to walk and not be carried, and she needs to know which door she is going out of, so she will learn for herself where to go.
When she runs off with things like shoes, which she surely will, they need to know how to get them from her without chasing, cornering or being confrontational – or making it into a game. Rosie is already very happy sleeping quietly in her crate (safe comfy ‘den’) all the night, and crating is a great help with toilet training.
It is tempting to carry a little puppy everywhere – but she has legs!
Rosie seems a very calm and stable puppy. I shall visit again in a few weeks when she is in the next stage of her development. Meanwhile I shall be at the end of the phone or email for support.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
07.11.2011
Cocker Spaniel, puppy
Givvy and Angus are beautiful chunky Black Labradors, four year old brother and sister. They do what a lot of Labs (and other dogs) do – jump up and pull on lead.
Imagine how a dog would feel, already very excited before leaving the house, pulling madly down the road, being corrected painfully with perhaps a choke chain while a stressed owner shouts ‘Heel’…..and then a person with a dog appears in front of him. More discomfort as the anxious owner immediately yanks the lead and holds on tight. The dog is more or less set up to be reactive – to lunge and bark.
How often do we see dogs walking on loose leads, being allowed to stop and sniff and do what dogs like to do, walking like there is no lead at all, barking and lunging at another dog?
I rest my case!
A family member is now pregnant, so the jumping up has to stop. ‘Dog training’ methods have been used for four years of their lives – one dog has a choke chain. They are corrected, the lead is jerked and they are told ‘heel’. They pull so badly, especially when they see another dog or a person, that they can’t be walked together and even the young man is too anxious to walk them down their own lane.
Have four years of correction, ‘heel’ and tight leads worked? No. Have four years of being told ‘Off’ or being pushed down when they jump up worked? No.
It stands to reason that a different approach is needed.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
06.11.2011
Uncategorized
Lexie is eighteen months old. It seems that, although she was a show dog, she didn’t have a normal home life. Her new family of six picked her up about four weeks ago, and it became evident that apart from ring craft she hadn’t been for walks – with traffic, people and dogs, nor ever let off lead. She is wary of new people, men in particular, and is taking a while to get used to their four-year old son. She obviously hasn’t been house trained, and that is causing problems. It is all a big change for Lexie.
She is a very quiet dog and never barks (yet) – not when she hears things and is obviously looking scared, nor at people who come to the house. Being totally silent apart from the occasional whine is very unusual. My own Cocker Spaniel Pickle is quite vocal.
Like Cocker Spaniel Shadow who I visited just over a week ago, Lexie has quickly become very attached to the lady, not wanting to let her out of her sight. She took a little while to get used to the husband. She growled and snapped the air near the little boy when, beside the lady on the sofa, he leaned over her and patted her on the head.
I am very pleased that instead of trying to dominate the dog for growling, they reacted kindly and sensibly, by removing her. Copying or misinterpreting certain techniques seen on TV can have disastrous results. Lexie is already getting more at ease with the child, and with a little encouragement for him to give her space unless she comes to him, I am sure she will get used to him.
Although in many respects they have made quite a bit of headway since they fetched her, Lexie is however being rather spoilt by the females of the family! They probably feel this is the way to make her feel at home and loved. She jumps all over them where she doesn’t on the males who are much more matter-of-fact with her. Too much attention can be a burden on a dog, resulting in a needy dog. She is at a sensitive stage, so they need to back off a little.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
05.11.2011
Cocker Spaniel, Toiletting indoors, Uncategorized, growling
Beagles Tilly and Cassie are both exactly the same age – two – but not sisters. They play together and sleep together in harmony. Up until about a month ago they got on famously.
Then they had three very scary fights, with blood and leaving scars.
It seems that hormones were to blame for the dogs’ general change of attitude towards one another – both were due to come into season, and over-excitement and stress on each occasion caused things to boil over.
Cassie, the darker and more confident one, was previously in charge. Tilly has subtly been challenging her. It’s not by chance in the photo on the right that she has her head resting on top of Cassie. Pip, my Lurcher, will sometimes stand over one of my other dogs for a moment, like he’s saying ‘just remember you are down there, and I am up here”! Then he lies down again. He will often lie with his head on the back of one of the others, just like Tilly’s head is over Cassie.
I think where Tilly had accepted Cassie’s dominance before, she has gradually been turning the tables on her. The first fight was over a couple of bones. Bones had never caused problems before. However, against this hormonal background, family had been visiting. They did lots of excited playing with the dogs and probably overstimulated them. Already thoroughly excited and stressed, what might previously have been an agreed swapping of bones will have suddenly flared into a battle.
Cassie is usually the actual instigator, but working backwards, something Tilly is doing seems to cause it. Tilly is a more nervous and jumpy dog, and this in itself can cause problems for another dog.
The second fight came very soon after the first. They were reunited too soon – still in a state of high arousal with people around who had been hysterical and screaming over the blood of the first fight. Now that it had happened twice, it’s like a door has been opened. The final fight, coming in an atmosphere of excitement, erupted more easily.
The question I was asked before I came was whether spaying one or both would do the trick. They might like to breed from one of them. How would it be if one was spayed and not the other? How would it be if neither were spayed and one had puppies? We know already that things would be a lot more relaxed if both were spayed, because they have had a hormonal injection. It will gradually wear off over four weeks.
So, with behaviour work and spaying I’m sure the problem will resolve and they will be back to their old selves. With behaviour work and no spaying, or if only one were spayed, it’s a gamble. At best the people would need to keep on their toes.
I can help you, too, with these problems or any other that you may be having with your dog. Please just check the map and contact me.
04.11.2011
Beagle, Uncategorized, fighting
What a beautiful boy! Sonny is a three-year-old Golden Labrador who has been in his new home for just three weeks.
When I arrived I was expecting a challenge. Sonny was quite persistent with his jumping up, and I spotted a muzzle on top of his crate by the door.
It soon became very apparent that this was just a friendly and very mellow natured Labrador who had, unwittingly, been taught to jump up. People think that saying Down, looking the dog in the eye and giving him a push will do the trick. But how many dogs are still jumping up after years of this? How would a stable dog tell a puppy that jumping on them wasn’t welcomed? Dogs don’t speak for starters! A dog would tip him off, turn away, look away, and continue to do so until he got the message. I see this happening with my own puppy and dogs. She gets the message!
Looking at Sonny, speaking to him and touching him gives him the very attention he is demanding. He may get down that time, but he has learnt it works for next time.
The muzzle is because the Rescue were worried Sonny may not be good with other dogs and they were playing very safe while they worked with him but there is little evidence of this so far. In his past life he had not been walked nor socialised with other dogs. He may bark at dogs but it seems this is a mix of not knowing quite what to do, an element of fear, and general young dog excitement. The only actual incident they have had in the three weeks was with an off lead dog who approached Sonny. He may have been sending the wrong signals and Sonny over-reacted. They have friends and neighbours with dogs that Sonny has got on well with from the start.
They will hide the muzzle! Each time they look at it they will be thinking of Sonny attacking dogs. This isn’t an expectation they would want fulfilled, and it’s not a good image to h
