Canine Behaviour Foundation Course
Module 1 - Section - 14 - Pups with potential problems - Unbalanced pups
Module 1 - Section - 14 - Pups with potential problems - Unbalanced pups
1. Signs of potential problems and important factors to consider
2. Unbalanced Pups – how does this behaviour happen?
3. Counter Conditioning and Desensitization
4. Pups fearful of traffic
5. Pups fearful of the vet
6. Pups fearful of people
7. Aggression in Pups
2. Unbalanced Pups – how does this behaviour happen?
3. Counter Conditioning and Desensitization
4. Pups fearful of traffic
5. Pups fearful of the vet
6. Pups fearful of people
7. Aggression in Pups
1. Signs of potential problems and important factors to consider
In order to function at 100% it is essential that we are balanced physically, mentally and emotionally, and the same goes for pups and dogs. This is one of the reasons that TTouch can play such an important part in behaviour modification - it assists the dog to become more in balance in all aspects.
When we are saying that pups are unbalanced, we are talking about pups that have potential behaviour problems which may not yet have developed but the signs are there in varying degrees. Pups that are unbalanced are prone to fear, reactive and often hyper active behaviour in general. Here we will be looking at the pup’s body language and how it acts towards people and other pups in general.
What also has to be taken into accounts when considering if a pup is not coping is the breed’s natural traits. Look at a Golden or a Rotti, these breeds tend to be very ‘mouthy’, while the Aussie Shepherd often appears to be rather a shy dog. A Fox Terrier or JR type pup tends to be OTT and often a bit reactive.
In the Puppy School environment, if the pup was stressing about people or other pups, it would be slowly and gradually introduced to people or other pups one by one, and for short periods of time, rather than just put in the general class. It is exactly for this reason that puppy schools should have a private /semi/private session with pup and owner/s before they start in the class situation. Here any potential problems can be picked up and the pup very gently and slowly introduced to new pups in the correct manner. The pup is not in this environment for long – just as long as it takes to do the introductions. The following session the pup then joins the class. We have found that this gradual introduction has gone a long way to making the transition into a class situation so much easier for pups.
To force a pup to engage at this stage is a sure way to make sure the behaviour you do not want becomes firmly entrenched – remember the TTouch saying ‘ you work with the dog ‘where it is at!’ An unpleasant experience could result in One Event Learning and create real fear which is not always that easy for the pup to get over – thank heavens for TTouch and the Avalon Pure sprays – how much easier this makes the job in a situation such as above!
For signs of a pup not coping you will make use of the 5F’s of Behaviour and also your Calming and Stress signals.
In a case where the pup is showing obvious and/or extreme fear behaviour, especially before any interaction occurs with either other pups or people the pup must be moved further away (by the owner) and left for a while with owner until it settles down. A professional must be called in to assist and only then must steps be taken to start interacting with the pup and this must be done by a professional using the correct approach exercise and the owner reinforcing the positive behaviour. Be aware of the pup’s critical distance and respect same. When the pup is ready to be slowly and gently introduced to the perceived fear (people, other pups or even both), it should never be done all in one session, rather very slowly giving the pup a break on a regular basis.
With pups that are not coping it is important to:-
The majority of the time, if the pup is treated as above and the introductions are done very slowly and gently, there is often a total turnaround of the fear behaviour in one or two sessions.
We believe in bringing in each and every tool available to help a pup get over fear, so we would definitely use the Avalon Pure General Anxiety and do some TTouch on the pup as soon as possible.
What is a crucial element, and even more so when you are working with adult dogs, is that the pup’s confidence is increased. This can be done in various ways:-
In order to function at 100% it is essential that we are balanced physically, mentally and emotionally, and the same goes for pups and dogs. This is one of the reasons that TTouch can play such an important part in behaviour modification - it assists the dog to become more in balance in all aspects.
When we are saying that pups are unbalanced, we are talking about pups that have potential behaviour problems which may not yet have developed but the signs are there in varying degrees. Pups that are unbalanced are prone to fear, reactive and often hyper active behaviour in general. Here we will be looking at the pup’s body language and how it acts towards people and other pups in general.
What also has to be taken into accounts when considering if a pup is not coping is the breed’s natural traits. Look at a Golden or a Rotti, these breeds tend to be very ‘mouthy’, while the Aussie Shepherd often appears to be rather a shy dog. A Fox Terrier or JR type pup tends to be OTT and often a bit reactive.
In the Puppy School environment, if the pup was stressing about people or other pups, it would be slowly and gradually introduced to people or other pups one by one, and for short periods of time, rather than just put in the general class. It is exactly for this reason that puppy schools should have a private /semi/private session with pup and owner/s before they start in the class situation. Here any potential problems can be picked up and the pup very gently and slowly introduced to new pups in the correct manner. The pup is not in this environment for long – just as long as it takes to do the introductions. The following session the pup then joins the class. We have found that this gradual introduction has gone a long way to making the transition into a class situation so much easier for pups.
To force a pup to engage at this stage is a sure way to make sure the behaviour you do not want becomes firmly entrenched – remember the TTouch saying ‘ you work with the dog ‘where it is at!’ An unpleasant experience could result in One Event Learning and create real fear which is not always that easy for the pup to get over – thank heavens for TTouch and the Avalon Pure sprays – how much easier this makes the job in a situation such as above!
For signs of a pup not coping you will make use of the 5F’s of Behaviour and also your Calming and Stress signals.
In a case where the pup is showing obvious and/or extreme fear behaviour, especially before any interaction occurs with either other pups or people the pup must be moved further away (by the owner) and left for a while with owner until it settles down. A professional must be called in to assist and only then must steps be taken to start interacting with the pup and this must be done by a professional using the correct approach exercise and the owner reinforcing the positive behaviour. Be aware of the pup’s critical distance and respect same. When the pup is ready to be slowly and gently introduced to the perceived fear (people, other pups or even both), it should never be done all in one session, rather very slowly giving the pup a break on a regular basis.
With pups that are not coping it is important to:-
- Respect the pups critical distance
- Give the pup the space it needs to recover its confidence
- Never, ever force the pup to interact
- Give the owner instructions as to how people approach the pup in the home environment based on the approaching fearful pups exercise.
- If fear is towards other pups, owner to be taught the correct way of Meet and Greet – crucial first few interactions only a few seconds.
- Give the owner directions how to avoid reinforcing the fear by owner pandering to the fear.
- Work slowly and at the pup’s pace.
- Suggest the confidence building exercises as listed below.
- Suggest to owner that a private session is undertaken as soon as possible
The majority of the time, if the pup is treated as above and the introductions are done very slowly and gently, there is often a total turnaround of the fear behaviour in one or two sessions.
We believe in bringing in each and every tool available to help a pup get over fear, so we would definitely use the Avalon Pure General Anxiety and do some TTouch on the pup as soon as possible.
What is a crucial element, and even more so when you are working with adult dogs, is that the pup’s confidence is increased. This can be done in various ways:-
- The pup is taken to new locations for walks. If the pup exhibits fear behaviour at being in the new location, then the owner to go very slowly and even helps the pup explore by using food in the way that it is tossed in front of the pup to encourage the pup to go a few steps forward. As mentioned it is important this is done very slowly with a few treats tossed in front and then the pup is allowed to return to owner - the treats are then tossed in front of the pup again and this procedure repeated over and over gradually building up the distance. This way we are building up the pups confidence slowly. This continues until the pup is totally confident in this new location. Only then is the pup taken to another new location and the same procedure is followed of slowly building up the pup’s confidence.
- When the pup does anything new, such as go through a tunnel, or culvert in the road, owner to really exaggerate the praise so that the pups see’s the benefits of trying new things. A wonderful one is a large cardboard box – pups can climb in, climb out, go through it, partially close the top and let it figure out how to get out – often starting this with the box on the side is better, pull it apart and find new ways to interact with this – sounds simple, not to a nervous pup – really builds confidence
- Another excellent one is to use different substances such as we use in the maze and at TTouch. Pup walking over different surfaces helps to build confidence and also proprioception. Pup can be lured slowly and praised as each step is taken. Some ideas are silver foil, bubble wrap, brown paper, slippery tiles, just to mention a few.
- Owner to look for ways to build pups confidence such as a mini agility at home changed around often and finding things for pup to go over, under, or through when out for walks.
- If pup is a ‘Velcro’ puppy then for other people in the family to interact with the pup as much as possible, especially take it for walks. Depending on the pup’s reaction to this, it may have to be taken very slowly. Owner not to ignore the pup, that would just be cruel, rather owner reduces the amount of contact with the pup and other people step in and do more with the pup – always to be a positive experience for the pup.
- Owner to look for new items, obstacles, noises etc that pup has never seen before and slowly and gently desensitize the pup to the new experiences.
- Clicker for nervous, shy and/or fearful pups is brilliant. As the pup learns new things, its confidence really grows as does its ability.
- Behaviour games for fearful pups can also really help to build confidence and also increase mental capabilities – the more the pup is successful the more the confidence grows.
- The more things the pup can do by itself the better – so hunting for food around the garden, running to fetch a ball, playing outside or digging in the digging pit, and chewing on a Kong or Busy Buddy – as mentioned above the more pup can do by itself, the better.
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Pups are encouraged slowly and at a pace they can cope with to go through, over and under various obsticles - always at the pups pace and choice.
2. Unbalanced Pups – how does this behaviour happen?
Why are some pups fearful and others not? Well, as discussed in what to look for when buying a pup, the first thing you can do to prevent this is to look for a good breeder – the Nature approach, investigate before you buy and get the best you can. The backyard breeders are notorious for not ensuring that the physical and emotional well being of the breeding pair has been taken care of, not to mention that they show no remorse at all of breeding with a fearful dog. They may well think that if the parents are not reactive, that nothing else really matters, how wrong they are! These same people happily take the pups away from their mother at 5 – 6 weeks of age, either not realizing, or not caring that this is one of the most important development stages for young pups.We personally would say that in the majority of fear problem we deal with, the pups were purchased at 5-6 weeks of age.
Back yard breeders and pet shops also do nothing to ensure that during the important learning periods that the pups are exposed to positive situations and that they get to meet as many people as possible learn about the household etc. Scotty worked with a dog that had been purchased from a breeder and the pups were kept in an area where it was closed off with a large sheet of corrugated iron. Apparently the man who cleaned up used to bang his brush against the metal which caused the mother and pups to back off, so that he could get in without letting any of the pups out. Needless to say, the pup in question developed a fear of all loud noises, especially those connected with anything metal – that included its food bowl banging on the floor!
Although buying a pup from an excellent breeder cuts down your chances of genetic problem behaviours occurring and hopefully the breeder has done his utmost during the critical periods to help the pups develop, there is always the chance that one of the pups from a litter will be fearful, even though the parents appear to be laid back, happy and friendly dogs. This could happen due to a genetic trait for fear, way back in the line, or alternatively we have seen two cases where one puppy in the litter turned out to be fearful and all the rest were fine. In both these cases it transpired that the bitch had experienced an extremely fearful event during pregnancy and although the bitch ‘got over the experience’, it may well be that the puppy was affected by this. We have found no scientific proof that this was what transpired in the occurrences mention and is an area where more research is needed.
Another reason why the pup may be fearful is due to abuse. When buying a pup from these reprehensible breeders we have no idea at all if the pup was abused, or if bought from a shelter, if any abuse before the pup was taken there occurred, or even when the pup was at the shelter. We are not saying that it suffered abuse on purpose, the people working in shelters are normally fantastic and care only for the dogs well being - but a child picking up a pup could have dropped it or given it a fright in some way, and if there was another pup that was a bully, it could easily have frightened the pup - or the dog in the next cage may have shown reactive behaviour towards the pup. We have found that many pups bought from shelters have a fear of a brush and/or hosepipes. If we look at how shelters are cleaned, with both large sized brushes and hose pipes, we can understand why this fear may have developed.
A further scenario that may well happen is that the pup is fine when brought from the breeder, but the owners, in ignorance and trying to comfort a pup that has had a fearful experience may well end up (inadvertently of course) reinforcing the fear by picking up the pup, cuddling it, comforting it etc, not realizing that this is the very worst thing they can do. We as human have an almost automatic response that when a person or animal is upset, we want to offer comfort, pick up a child etc and all this does where a pup is concerned is to reinforce the behaviour – good heavens the pup may think, they are worried – must be something to be fearful off! The owners often end up reinforcing this fear further by labelling the pup as fearful. It has been shown that when you label something, until you start to change your own mind about the labeling, the pup will have that label around its neck for life instead of a collar!
In the majority of literature that we have read over the years, on pup and dogs that are fearful due to genetics, the most common comment is that it is virtually impossible to overcome the fear if genetically based. We totally disagree as have observed, that when TTouch and behaviour modification are used to treat the fear behaviour, there is always an improvement, not always a 100% turnaround, but always an improvement. As TTouch assists to activate cellular intelligence and teaches a dog to think rather than react, one can understand why it is so useful. If one of the Avalon Pure for Dogs sprays are added this will help the condition further.
Another reason why a pup may be fearful is its physical health. A dog can experience pain but as they cannot tell us where, what and why, the pain often goes unnoticed. Dog’s in nature, do not tend to show pain, as doing so can lower its status in the pack and make it appear weaker and vunerable. A fearful pup may move away as it doesn’t want to be jumped on, or picked by us or may act aggressively to keep the perceived threat of pain away.
Signs of fear in pups include being afraid of new situations, strangers, avoiding certain objects, fear of other dogs, noises, machinery, various vehicles, things blowing in the wind (especially the signs at garages on the highways) people and situations. A pup that will run away when cornered or who will attempt to bite when cornered is also a fearful pup. Many pups will attempt to hide behind their people, even at an early age.
When working with a fearful pup, it is vitally important, in all situations, to work with ‘where the pup is at’ and not rush anything at all. A fearful pup needs to build up its self confidence and be really rewarded when it has done something new. Even basic training may take a little longer as we want to ensure that the pup has mastered the exercise before going onto something new which perhaps the pup can’t cope with.
Bear in mind as well that pups go through ‘fear periods’ and you often find that with a fearful pup it seems to go all the way back to where it was initially. If this happens, client just to be patient, praise and reward all steps forward and again, never force or think the pup is being stubborn – it’s not, it’s scared!
A very good way to build up a pup’s confidence is to engage in the Groundwork exercises that we do with TTouch and even changing the daily equipment used, walking the pup on the other side of the body, or putting on two points of contact can make an impact.
Exercises such as these can even be done when the pup is out for a walk by getting it to walk up and down stairs (especially metal) which can be frightening to a pup or even a dog. The theory for this fear that was told to us was that when the stairs have a gap between them, such as the metal stairs have a gap between them and the pup does not realize that there is something above there. Other things that the owner can do is let the pup, climb, jump onto fallen tree logs, walk around shopping centres, jump across small water culverts, find different surfaces for it to walk on etc. The list is endless if we just look around us and see what is available.
One thing for sure, it is very seldom that fear behaviour will diminish by itself, the opposite, on average will occur – the fear behaviour will intensify and the pup will often become more and more fearful of other objects and people. Many owners think that getting a second pup will help, more often than not, it won’t – they end up with both pups fearful as a result of mimicking behaviour or what will happen is that the new pup will become the more confident one and often bully the other pup into getting all the attention, toys, resources etc. This then causes the fearful pup to become even more fearful and withdrawn.
We have however, know a few dogs whereby the new addition came into the family and was already fearful of noises or storms. The existing dog had no fear whatsoever in this regard, and the new dog’s fear started to diminish – this is the exception rather than the rule.
Why are some pups fearful and others not? Well, as discussed in what to look for when buying a pup, the first thing you can do to prevent this is to look for a good breeder – the Nature approach, investigate before you buy and get the best you can. The backyard breeders are notorious for not ensuring that the physical and emotional well being of the breeding pair has been taken care of, not to mention that they show no remorse at all of breeding with a fearful dog. They may well think that if the parents are not reactive, that nothing else really matters, how wrong they are! These same people happily take the pups away from their mother at 5 – 6 weeks of age, either not realizing, or not caring that this is one of the most important development stages for young pups.We personally would say that in the majority of fear problem we deal with, the pups were purchased at 5-6 weeks of age.
Back yard breeders and pet shops also do nothing to ensure that during the important learning periods that the pups are exposed to positive situations and that they get to meet as many people as possible learn about the household etc. Scotty worked with a dog that had been purchased from a breeder and the pups were kept in an area where it was closed off with a large sheet of corrugated iron. Apparently the man who cleaned up used to bang his brush against the metal which caused the mother and pups to back off, so that he could get in without letting any of the pups out. Needless to say, the pup in question developed a fear of all loud noises, especially those connected with anything metal – that included its food bowl banging on the floor!
Although buying a pup from an excellent breeder cuts down your chances of genetic problem behaviours occurring and hopefully the breeder has done his utmost during the critical periods to help the pups develop, there is always the chance that one of the pups from a litter will be fearful, even though the parents appear to be laid back, happy and friendly dogs. This could happen due to a genetic trait for fear, way back in the line, or alternatively we have seen two cases where one puppy in the litter turned out to be fearful and all the rest were fine. In both these cases it transpired that the bitch had experienced an extremely fearful event during pregnancy and although the bitch ‘got over the experience’, it may well be that the puppy was affected by this. We have found no scientific proof that this was what transpired in the occurrences mention and is an area where more research is needed.
Another reason why the pup may be fearful is due to abuse. When buying a pup from these reprehensible breeders we have no idea at all if the pup was abused, or if bought from a shelter, if any abuse before the pup was taken there occurred, or even when the pup was at the shelter. We are not saying that it suffered abuse on purpose, the people working in shelters are normally fantastic and care only for the dogs well being - but a child picking up a pup could have dropped it or given it a fright in some way, and if there was another pup that was a bully, it could easily have frightened the pup - or the dog in the next cage may have shown reactive behaviour towards the pup. We have found that many pups bought from shelters have a fear of a brush and/or hosepipes. If we look at how shelters are cleaned, with both large sized brushes and hose pipes, we can understand why this fear may have developed.
A further scenario that may well happen is that the pup is fine when brought from the breeder, but the owners, in ignorance and trying to comfort a pup that has had a fearful experience may well end up (inadvertently of course) reinforcing the fear by picking up the pup, cuddling it, comforting it etc, not realizing that this is the very worst thing they can do. We as human have an almost automatic response that when a person or animal is upset, we want to offer comfort, pick up a child etc and all this does where a pup is concerned is to reinforce the behaviour – good heavens the pup may think, they are worried – must be something to be fearful off! The owners often end up reinforcing this fear further by labelling the pup as fearful. It has been shown that when you label something, until you start to change your own mind about the labeling, the pup will have that label around its neck for life instead of a collar!
In the majority of literature that we have read over the years, on pup and dogs that are fearful due to genetics, the most common comment is that it is virtually impossible to overcome the fear if genetically based. We totally disagree as have observed, that when TTouch and behaviour modification are used to treat the fear behaviour, there is always an improvement, not always a 100% turnaround, but always an improvement. As TTouch assists to activate cellular intelligence and teaches a dog to think rather than react, one can understand why it is so useful. If one of the Avalon Pure for Dogs sprays are added this will help the condition further.
Another reason why a pup may be fearful is its physical health. A dog can experience pain but as they cannot tell us where, what and why, the pain often goes unnoticed. Dog’s in nature, do not tend to show pain, as doing so can lower its status in the pack and make it appear weaker and vunerable. A fearful pup may move away as it doesn’t want to be jumped on, or picked by us or may act aggressively to keep the perceived threat of pain away.
Signs of fear in pups include being afraid of new situations, strangers, avoiding certain objects, fear of other dogs, noises, machinery, various vehicles, things blowing in the wind (especially the signs at garages on the highways) people and situations. A pup that will run away when cornered or who will attempt to bite when cornered is also a fearful pup. Many pups will attempt to hide behind their people, even at an early age.
When working with a fearful pup, it is vitally important, in all situations, to work with ‘where the pup is at’ and not rush anything at all. A fearful pup needs to build up its self confidence and be really rewarded when it has done something new. Even basic training may take a little longer as we want to ensure that the pup has mastered the exercise before going onto something new which perhaps the pup can’t cope with.
Bear in mind as well that pups go through ‘fear periods’ and you often find that with a fearful pup it seems to go all the way back to where it was initially. If this happens, client just to be patient, praise and reward all steps forward and again, never force or think the pup is being stubborn – it’s not, it’s scared!
A very good way to build up a pup’s confidence is to engage in the Groundwork exercises that we do with TTouch and even changing the daily equipment used, walking the pup on the other side of the body, or putting on two points of contact can make an impact.
Exercises such as these can even be done when the pup is out for a walk by getting it to walk up and down stairs (especially metal) which can be frightening to a pup or even a dog. The theory for this fear that was told to us was that when the stairs have a gap between them, such as the metal stairs have a gap between them and the pup does not realize that there is something above there. Other things that the owner can do is let the pup, climb, jump onto fallen tree logs, walk around shopping centres, jump across small water culverts, find different surfaces for it to walk on etc. The list is endless if we just look around us and see what is available.
One thing for sure, it is very seldom that fear behaviour will diminish by itself, the opposite, on average will occur – the fear behaviour will intensify and the pup will often become more and more fearful of other objects and people. Many owners think that getting a second pup will help, more often than not, it won’t – they end up with both pups fearful as a result of mimicking behaviour or what will happen is that the new pup will become the more confident one and often bully the other pup into getting all the attention, toys, resources etc. This then causes the fearful pup to become even more fearful and withdrawn.
We have however, know a few dogs whereby the new addition came into the family and was already fearful of noises or storms. The existing dog had no fear whatsoever in this regard, and the new dog’s fear started to diminish – this is the exception rather than the rule.
3. Counter Conditioning and Desensitization
Both of these techniques are used by behaviourist and trainers to help to change unwanted behaviour in dogs and are usually in conjunction to one another as you have already read about in the section on Learning Theory. What is crucial when dealing with any fear behaviour, is that the modifications are done on a regular basis – daily, and a few times a day if possible to help the pup overcome the fear – once a week, or once a month will not work.
If you think about it, the basic principle of counter conditioning is that the dog is trained to do something that is the opposite of, or mutually exclusive to the undesirable behaviour, so even when we teach the dog to sit, as opposed to jumping up, we are bringing into play counter conditioning.
We as dog trainers and behaviourists are often found guilty of using canine terminology without explaining to people what it means. If we are going to ‘desensitize’ a pup or dog to something, we first have to realize that the word sensitize, means: - Quick to detect or respond to slight changes, signals, or influences. On the other hand, to desensitize, simply means to ‘make less sensitive’. Counter conditioning means conditioning (or training) a dog to display a behaviour that is counter to (or mutually exclusive) of the unacceptable behaviour shown in response to a particular stimulus – nail clippers for example.
Pups or dogs which are exhibiting behaviour problems (reactive behaviour, fear, and separation anxiety) are normally excessively sensitive towards the perceived threat. What is the MOST important thing about desensitizing a pup or a dog towards a perceived threat (remember in the dog’s eyes this threat is very real), is that it is done slowly and gradually and most importantly, without the dog responding with fear to the perceived threat at all. You would never progress until the pup is not longer reacting towards the perceived threat. As we have said before, we have to work with ‘where the dog is at’, in order to help the dog to overcome the fear associated with the perceived threat.
We have come across clients who have tried to desensitize the dog on their own and have said they tried and it did not work. What we have found to be the common denominator in all these cases is that the owner went far too fast. It is imperative that the pup/dog shows no signs of fear AT ALL, at each and every stage of the modification process. We as humans, unfortunately, suffer from the ‘quick fix’ attitude in general. It is also a good idea to go a step backwards on occasion to really reinforce the pup’s confidence if the fear is extreme.
When helping a dog with desensitization, we also use a method called Counter conditioning, as mentioned above. We will use counter conditioning to change the dogs association of a situation such as having nails clipped, to a new experience of making the nail clipping a rewarding experience by the introduction of food, games etc being paired with nail clipping. Therefore, what we are doing is working with both desensitization - by way of gradually getting the dog used to the perceived fear and at the same time using counter conditioning to reinforce the new behaviour.
This has to happen in a totally controlled manner. The modifications are done in very short sessions and fear of noises for example is done with very low intensity noise being introduced and gradually being built up as well as distance being brought into the recipe.
You always aim at the pup/dog never becoming fearful and stop the second you see the pup/dog is not coping by way of its body language or reaction to the fearful object. Desensitizing a dog takes a lot of patience and practice – remember, as said before, the dogs fear is very, very real, and one dog that may be fearful of children, may accept a child at a good 20 metres away, but it can take a lot of time before the dog accepts the child next to him – patience, patience, patience!
Both of these techniques are used by behaviourist and trainers to help to change unwanted behaviour in dogs and are usually in conjunction to one another as you have already read about in the section on Learning Theory. What is crucial when dealing with any fear behaviour, is that the modifications are done on a regular basis – daily, and a few times a day if possible to help the pup overcome the fear – once a week, or once a month will not work.
If you think about it, the basic principle of counter conditioning is that the dog is trained to do something that is the opposite of, or mutually exclusive to the undesirable behaviour, so even when we teach the dog to sit, as opposed to jumping up, we are bringing into play counter conditioning.
We as dog trainers and behaviourists are often found guilty of using canine terminology without explaining to people what it means. If we are going to ‘desensitize’ a pup or dog to something, we first have to realize that the word sensitize, means: - Quick to detect or respond to slight changes, signals, or influences. On the other hand, to desensitize, simply means to ‘make less sensitive’. Counter conditioning means conditioning (or training) a dog to display a behaviour that is counter to (or mutually exclusive) of the unacceptable behaviour shown in response to a particular stimulus – nail clippers for example.
Pups or dogs which are exhibiting behaviour problems (reactive behaviour, fear, and separation anxiety) are normally excessively sensitive towards the perceived threat. What is the MOST important thing about desensitizing a pup or a dog towards a perceived threat (remember in the dog’s eyes this threat is very real), is that it is done slowly and gradually and most importantly, without the dog responding with fear to the perceived threat at all. You would never progress until the pup is not longer reacting towards the perceived threat. As we have said before, we have to work with ‘where the dog is at’, in order to help the dog to overcome the fear associated with the perceived threat.
We have come across clients who have tried to desensitize the dog on their own and have said they tried and it did not work. What we have found to be the common denominator in all these cases is that the owner went far too fast. It is imperative that the pup/dog shows no signs of fear AT ALL, at each and every stage of the modification process. We as humans, unfortunately, suffer from the ‘quick fix’ attitude in general. It is also a good idea to go a step backwards on occasion to really reinforce the pup’s confidence if the fear is extreme.
When helping a dog with desensitization, we also use a method called Counter conditioning, as mentioned above. We will use counter conditioning to change the dogs association of a situation such as having nails clipped, to a new experience of making the nail clipping a rewarding experience by the introduction of food, games etc being paired with nail clipping. Therefore, what we are doing is working with both desensitization - by way of gradually getting the dog used to the perceived fear and at the same time using counter conditioning to reinforce the new behaviour.
This has to happen in a totally controlled manner. The modifications are done in very short sessions and fear of noises for example is done with very low intensity noise being introduced and gradually being built up as well as distance being brought into the recipe.
You always aim at the pup/dog never becoming fearful and stop the second you see the pup/dog is not coping by way of its body language or reaction to the fearful object. Desensitizing a dog takes a lot of patience and practice – remember, as said before, the dogs fear is very, very real, and one dog that may be fearful of children, may accept a child at a good 20 metres away, but it can take a lot of time before the dog accepts the child next to him – patience, patience, patience!
To further your understanding, let us explain to you how it works, let’s take an example of a pup that is afraid of a stand up vacuum cleaner:-
We have to bear in mind that the VC for example, the desensitizing needs to be broken down into multiple parts, and desensitizing carried out at each stage accordingly. We may look at a VC and just see a VC – a dog for example may see a VC as something that is lifted out of a cupboard (making it even larger), is put flat on the floor – it then makes a noise after plugged in – and then it has a human attached to it – then it moves! Where a pup reacts when the door to the cupboard is opened and it first sees the VC, change the position of the VC to another cupboard completely - this immediately changes the pups perception of that particular cupboard opening being a scary occurrence. You can work on desensitizing the pup to that particular cupboard (if necessary) at a later stage.
What is vitally important is that the minute you stop this exercise, and in this case the pup would be removed to another area of the home while the VC is put away, is that all treats and praise stop. The association we are making for the pup is that good things happen when the VC is around.
Depending on the pup’s fear of the object, this can be achieved in half and hour and in the case of the fear being directed at people or other dogs, it can take days, even weeks.
Where Fireworks or Storms are concerned it is far better to engage in counter conditioning and play games, balls, pull games with ropes etc as logically, the food gets eaten fast while the toys/games can go on and on.
Some points which need to be taken into consideration always with desensitizing:-
With children other factors have to be taken into consideration such as you may successfully desensitize the dog to a 4yr old interacting with it, but what then happens if the child screeches, runs, throws a ball etc. All these aspects have to be considered and desensitising undertaken at all parts.
- Do this when pup is hungry and not over excited.
- Determine when the fear behaviour of the VC (Vacuum Cleaner) starts. Is it the second the dog see’s the VC? Is it then the dog is within a certain distance away from the VC? Is it when the VC is in an upright position? Is it when the VC if turned on?
We have to bear in mind that the VC for example, the desensitizing needs to be broken down into multiple parts, and desensitizing carried out at each stage accordingly. We may look at a VC and just see a VC – a dog for example may see a VC as something that is lifted out of a cupboard (making it even larger), is put flat on the floor – it then makes a noise after plugged in – and then it has a human attached to it – then it moves! Where a pup reacts when the door to the cupboard is opened and it first sees the VC, change the position of the VC to another cupboard completely - this immediately changes the pups perception of that particular cupboard opening being a scary occurrence. You can work on desensitizing the pup to that particular cupboard (if necessary) at a later stage.
- You have now determined for example that the fear behaviour starts the minute the VC is carried in the room. Arm yourself with a good few handfuls of very high value smelly treats such as Liver Bread or Biltong.
- Leave the VC outside the room the pup is in, but with the door open.
- Have the pup on the far side of the room and give it a treat as the door is opened and it can see the VC. If the pup is reacting with fear at this point, just move the VC further away. Keep on treating the pup in this position and offering praise until it is ignoring the VC. It is often easier to bring in somebody to help here so that the person with the pup can initially concentrate on praising and treating until the pup starts to move forward to get the treats closer to the VC.
- Now toss the treat a step closer to where the pup was initially and repeat the process above. This encourages the pup to move towards the VC itself. This must be done slowly and in very small increments. As all pups are different and their reaction to a perceived threat will be different as well, you will find with some pups that you can go faster than with other pups - however rather go slower than faster.
- You keep on going in this fashion until you are tossing right next to the VC.
- Your next step is to place a treat on to of the VC and allow the pup to take the treat from here. Depending on the fear, not all pups can go directly up to the object to take the treat – you may have to make a small trail of treats and even put a treat of higher value on top of the VC. Do this over and over again until the pup is completely relaxed.
- Now stand up next to the VC and toss treats and use vocal praise to the pup from this position.
- Now, without the VC being on, push it an inch or two and keep on treating and praising.
- You will gradually work your way up until you can push the VC across the room to where the plug is.
- At this stage you will need some help for somebody to stand next to the VC and turn it on. You now go right back to the beginning of having the pup on the other side of the room and as the person turns the VC on, you give copious treats – this is a big deal to a pup at this stage!
- Now repeat the initial steps until the pup’s fear is completely gone and the VC can be pushed around with the motor on and the pup can get close to it without reacting.
What is vitally important is that the minute you stop this exercise, and in this case the pup would be removed to another area of the home while the VC is put away, is that all treats and praise stop. The association we are making for the pup is that good things happen when the VC is around.
Depending on the pup’s fear of the object, this can be achieved in half and hour and in the case of the fear being directed at people or other dogs, it can take days, even weeks.
Where Fireworks or Storms are concerned it is far better to engage in counter conditioning and play games, balls, pull games with ropes etc as logically, the food gets eaten fast while the toys/games can go on and on.
Some points which need to be taken into consideration always with desensitizing:-
- Determine the starting point – the critical distance. Always start a bit away from the perceived threat and before the pup reacts.
- Define exactly what motivates the fear or what is the trigger i.e. if people – is it people at a distance, people closer, children, men, only when people talk, only when people move, the location the person is in, the amount of time the person is in the room etc.
- Always start with the least fearful stimulus. For example, if a pup is afraid of children but not of women in general, then start with a girl about 11-13 yrs of age at a distance with the child gradually getting closer and closer using the method above. Once the pup has been successful with this, don’t just presume that the pup will like all sizes of children – start working with a younger child (remember always with an adult supervising the child while you work with the pup) and work your way down to toddlers. It is also very important to repeat the sequence over and over, once or twice is simply not enough.
With children other factors have to be taken into consideration such as you may successfully desensitize the dog to a 4yr old interacting with it, but what then happens if the child screeches, runs, throws a ball etc. All these aspects have to be considered and desensitising undertaken at all parts.
- If dealing with pup that is fearful of noises, then the noise must start off at a very low intensity with the pup at a distance and then gradually working closer and also increasing the volume. In the problem behaviour section of working with pups with storm and noise phobias we will give you some additional methods to use.
- Never progress further until the pup is coping at the stage you are currently working with, even repeating each stage several times.
- Rather do several short sessions than one long one. This gives the pup a chance to relax and do something more enjoyable.
- Work slowly and gradually.
- Once a pup has been successful, don’t just leave it there; keep on bringing the pup into contact with the previously fearful object, under controlled conditions until the fear has been extinguished altogether.
- If a pup has multiple fears, they must be dealt with one at a time and the pup succeeding at each before going onto another fear. On average once the initial fear has been dealt with, it seems to become easier and quicker to overcome other fears. I believe that this is due to the dog learning to trust the owner.
"THE TREATS/ TOYS AND PRAISE ALWAYS STOP THE MINUTE THE FEARFUL STIMULS IS TAKEN AWAY"
4. Pups fearful of traffic
The owner starts off with the pup going for a walk to a park type area. Using the method of leaving a trail, as in the above situation with the VC, the owner slowly gets the pup closer and closer to the road. If there are two people then the pup can be called from one person to the other with praise and a treat being given and slowly get closer to the road. In this exercise you would watch the pup’s body language carefully and turn around and lead it away from the traffic on a regular basis (before it stresses!) until it could get close to the road. Once close to the road, the pup could sit down and more treats be given, a game of pullies with a toy or similar – again pleasant experiences are associated with the busy road.
If the pup was toy driven as opposed to food, then toys would be used. In a situation such as this we would ensure that this particular toy had a very high value and only used in this situation.
This would be done by way of having a game of ball with the pup, and the ball could be thrown the one step closer towards the traffic and the pup then goes to get it and is also rewarded with praise and a treat. If using this method, get the pup excited and playing with the ball at a distance before fear behaviour starts. Obliviously you would do this behind a fence! Last thing one wants is for the pup to chase the ball into the traffic!!!
We find it very helpful in this situation to teach the pup, the watch cue at the same time. This can be used by the owner as the pup gets very close to the traffic to get its attention onto the owner rather than the traffic and can then be used when out for a walk if the pup starts to react to the traffic and there are no other tools such as toys available. We also find that putting on the TTouch wrap in this situation assists greatly as does the owner singing or talking in a happy, cheerful tone of voice.
When practicing this we suggest using a pavement next to a road which has a large grassy area – this gives space to move the pup away from traffic often plus normally provides lots of doggy smells.
If there is an older mature dog available that the pup is comfortable with, this dog can accompany the pup on its walk. Initially I would let the pup walk on the inside furthest away from the traffic and chop and change this around to see how the pup copes.
If this is just too much for the pup, then the owner takes a tape recording of heavy traffic and undergoes the desensitization process in the home first in the manner above..
5. Pups fearful of the vet
Going to the vet can be a very stressful time, not just for the dog but for the owner as well, which will just add to the stress that the pup is experiencing.
The most extreme cases of fear of the vet are normally shown from pups that are only taken out in the car when going to the vet for the yearly shots or for a medical concern. Another common reason is a pup that was ill as a young pup and spent time at the vet on a regular basis where invasive type treatment had to be undertaken.
The easiest way to solve this is just take the pup out in the car for regular rides. You can go around the corner to the local park and let the pup have a sniff around or even do the same at your local supermarket. Immediately the stress levels in this case will be reduced, and then you can follow on with the exercises below.
Once the pup is happy with traveling in the car, then start taking the pup to the vet, but not inside. Let it sniff around outside on the grassed area that most vets have nowadays, at the same time praising the pup and offering treats. What we are doing, is slowly but surely lowering the pups stress levels to this environment – desensitizing the pup in other words.
Tell your vet what you are doing and we are sure that you will get full co-operation, especially if the pup is difficult at the vet when being examined. When the pup is happy with this, your next step will be to phone the vet before you leave and tell the receptionist what you will be doing.
After smelling around outside, walk the pup in, offer some treats and let it smell around, and the majority of receptionists will come over and do the same. Repeat this as often as necessary, even going around the block and then coming back and repeating the same exercise. If the pup is nervous of the receptionist then use the Meeting Visitors routine in the section on Pups fearful of people below. Gary Player once said ‘the more I practice the luckier I get’, so you get the idea of how often this needs to be done!
Your next step is if the pup is scared of the weighing scale, to offer treats until the pup is happily sitting or standing on it using the system of desensitizing in placing treats on the floor leading up to the scale and then eventually on it. Once the pup is happy with this, then get the pup to perform a sit on the scale with lots of praise and treats.
When the above has all been successfully achieved, if the vet has a spare exam room, ask if you can walk in with the pup, treat, walk it around treating and praising, and repeat until the pup is comfortable with the surroundings. Remember initially to keep the door open, and then when the pup is coping well, to close the door and repeat the exercise, as the door will be closed during the vet exam. The majority of vets we work with will happily take this exercise a step further and get involved with the rehabilitation work by letting the pup walk into the room, patting the pup etc, so do ask your vet if he can co-operate with you on this point.
The more the exercises above are practiced, the happier and easier it will be for your pup when a vet visit is necessary. Going to a puppy school hosted at vet’s rooms is always a bonus as part of the exercises are normally the being checked by the vet, put on the scale etc.
If the pup is going to be placed on the vet table, then once the pup is comfortable with being in the vet’s room, add this in as an extra component. Many vets will happily come in, offer treats, pat the pup, and conduct a very short and superficial examination just to get the pup more relaxed and confident – remember it is in the vet’s interests to be able to work with a dog that is not stressed!
Another tool that has a great impact is the use of TTouch. Simply doing a bit of TTouch before going to the vet, containing the pup with a balance lead and the use of the Wrap in this situation, will greatly reduce the pups stress levels.
Additionally make sure that your own body language is relaxed. Our dogs pick up on whether we are feeling stressed immediately and will react accordingly. Breathe evenly and even whistle or sing, which will relax both of you. Picture in your mind the outcome you do expect – pup walking happily into the vet – and stop labelling the pup as being ‘fearful/aggressive at the vet’.
If the above is done on a regular basis, working at a pace with which a pup is comfortable, in no time at all you will have a pup that can cope with going to the vet.
Final note here, make use of the balance lead to take the pressure off the neck.
Going to the vet can be a very stressful time, not just for the dog but for the owner as well, which will just add to the stress that the pup is experiencing.
The most extreme cases of fear of the vet are normally shown from pups that are only taken out in the car when going to the vet for the yearly shots or for a medical concern. Another common reason is a pup that was ill as a young pup and spent time at the vet on a regular basis where invasive type treatment had to be undertaken.
The easiest way to solve this is just take the pup out in the car for regular rides. You can go around the corner to the local park and let the pup have a sniff around or even do the same at your local supermarket. Immediately the stress levels in this case will be reduced, and then you can follow on with the exercises below.
Once the pup is happy with traveling in the car, then start taking the pup to the vet, but not inside. Let it sniff around outside on the grassed area that most vets have nowadays, at the same time praising the pup and offering treats. What we are doing, is slowly but surely lowering the pups stress levels to this environment – desensitizing the pup in other words.
Tell your vet what you are doing and we are sure that you will get full co-operation, especially if the pup is difficult at the vet when being examined. When the pup is happy with this, your next step will be to phone the vet before you leave and tell the receptionist what you will be doing.
After smelling around outside, walk the pup in, offer some treats and let it smell around, and the majority of receptionists will come over and do the same. Repeat this as often as necessary, even going around the block and then coming back and repeating the same exercise. If the pup is nervous of the receptionist then use the Meeting Visitors routine in the section on Pups fearful of people below. Gary Player once said ‘the more I practice the luckier I get’, so you get the idea of how often this needs to be done!
Your next step is if the pup is scared of the weighing scale, to offer treats until the pup is happily sitting or standing on it using the system of desensitizing in placing treats on the floor leading up to the scale and then eventually on it. Once the pup is happy with this, then get the pup to perform a sit on the scale with lots of praise and treats.
When the above has all been successfully achieved, if the vet has a spare exam room, ask if you can walk in with the pup, treat, walk it around treating and praising, and repeat until the pup is comfortable with the surroundings. Remember initially to keep the door open, and then when the pup is coping well, to close the door and repeat the exercise, as the door will be closed during the vet exam. The majority of vets we work with will happily take this exercise a step further and get involved with the rehabilitation work by letting the pup walk into the room, patting the pup etc, so do ask your vet if he can co-operate with you on this point.
The more the exercises above are practiced, the happier and easier it will be for your pup when a vet visit is necessary. Going to a puppy school hosted at vet’s rooms is always a bonus as part of the exercises are normally the being checked by the vet, put on the scale etc.
If the pup is going to be placed on the vet table, then once the pup is comfortable with being in the vet’s room, add this in as an extra component. Many vets will happily come in, offer treats, pat the pup, and conduct a very short and superficial examination just to get the pup more relaxed and confident – remember it is in the vet’s interests to be able to work with a dog that is not stressed!
Another tool that has a great impact is the use of TTouch. Simply doing a bit of TTouch before going to the vet, containing the pup with a balance lead and the use of the Wrap in this situation, will greatly reduce the pups stress levels.
Additionally make sure that your own body language is relaxed. Our dogs pick up on whether we are feeling stressed immediately and will react accordingly. Breathe evenly and even whistle or sing, which will relax both of you. Picture in your mind the outcome you do expect – pup walking happily into the vet – and stop labelling the pup as being ‘fearful/aggressive at the vet’.
If the above is done on a regular basis, working at a pace with which a pup is comfortable, in no time at all you will have a pup that can cope with going to the vet.
Final note here, make use of the balance lead to take the pressure off the neck.
6. Pups fearful of people
The first step is to determine type of person, the distance and the circumstances that causes the fear as mentioned previously and the next thing that has to happen here is that the person that is going to approach the pup has to be taught how to approach in a non threatening manner. If the pup is very fearful, then it is a good idea to stop when you are ahead, let the owner take the pup for a walk or some time out and when pup is relaxed to try again. With fearful pups it is always advantageous to really chunk things down.
Below we are approaching the pup; however we would very, very seldom do this for an adult dog with any fear issues. Basically the only exception would be with an adult dog fearful of people – perhaps a feral or rescue who has totally shut down. This should only be done by somebody with good knowledge of body language, especially if the dog was in an area where it may feel cornered – a bite could easily ensue if the dog felt threatened and could not get away.
With an adult dog we would do a variation of the same exercise, but the dog would approach the person, not the other way around. There are more notes on dealing with fearful dogs in the adult dog section.
Method 1 – pup shut down and will not move – go extremely slowly and have regular breaks. Some important points to remember:-
If you have a pup that has shut down and will not move, then you need to approach the pup in a non – threatening manner. Remembering that dogs staring directly at one another signals aggression, so the person to start approaching the puppy going in a slight arc, not looking directly at the puppy. No hats, sun glassed or bags etc on the person. As they get closer, to toss some treats to the puppy and then retreat.
Method 2 – pup is moving around but showing fear of people approaching
This is virtually identical to above, just that the person stands still and it is the pup’s choice as to whether it approaches the person or not - this is always the best option if possible. If this does not work, then the above method can be done – we always prefer for the pup to make the approach and what can also be done in this situation is that the person that is tossing the treats, can first of all kneel on the floor instead of standing, or sit in a chair – both these scenarios will have the result of the perceived fearful person appearing much smaller. If sitting or kneeling when pup is close to be mindful not to lean over the pup.
As mentioned above and this is crucial. With an adult dog that is fearful, you would determine the critical distance and the visitor would then stand there – NOT approach the dog – it would be the dogs prerogative as to whether or not they approached the person. Remember that the distance also has to be far enough that if the dog lunged forward it could not reach the person. Crucial to be aware of the dogs body language to determine if the dog was handling the situation or not.
The first step is to determine type of person, the distance and the circumstances that causes the fear as mentioned previously and the next thing that has to happen here is that the person that is going to approach the pup has to be taught how to approach in a non threatening manner. If the pup is very fearful, then it is a good idea to stop when you are ahead, let the owner take the pup for a walk or some time out and when pup is relaxed to try again. With fearful pups it is always advantageous to really chunk things down.
Below we are approaching the pup; however we would very, very seldom do this for an adult dog with any fear issues. Basically the only exception would be with an adult dog fearful of people – perhaps a feral or rescue who has totally shut down. This should only be done by somebody with good knowledge of body language, especially if the dog was in an area where it may feel cornered – a bite could easily ensue if the dog felt threatened and could not get away.
With an adult dog we would do a variation of the same exercise, but the dog would approach the person, not the other way around. There are more notes on dealing with fearful dogs in the adult dog section.
Method 1 – pup shut down and will not move – go extremely slowly and have regular breaks. Some important points to remember:-
- Pup is never forced to approach
- If pup can’t cope, owner to move back a few steps
- Owner to praise each and every time pup takes a treat
- Person approaching does not move away from pup – the owner takes the pup away from person. The reason for this is that we have no idea at all if the pup was thinking 'if that person comes one step closer I will bite them (or similar). If pup was contemplating any action on its side to keep the perceived at bay, then the pup may think that it caused the perceived threat to leave.
- Good to have regular breaks
If you have a pup that has shut down and will not move, then you need to approach the pup in a non – threatening manner. Remembering that dogs staring directly at one another signals aggression, so the person to start approaching the puppy going in a slight arc, not looking directly at the puppy. No hats, sun glassed or bags etc on the person. As they get closer, to toss some treats to the puppy and then retreat.
- The pup in on lead and help by the owner.
- Person stands at a distance the pup is comfortable with and tosses a treat very close to the pup but not close enough to frighten the pup. If the pup is being held by owner, owner will praise and reward with a treat as the pup takes the treat tossed towards it. Owner praises and treats each and every time the pup takes a treat that is offered.
- As the pup gets used to this, the same procedure is done with the owner praising and treating when the pup accepts food, then the person can work on getting closer and closer to the pup, but very slowly and literally one step at a time. When they are very close, the person then backtracks by not coming as close to let the pup have a bit of space.
- Next step is to get about a foot away from the pup - bend down with your body angled away from the pup and your head turned slightly away as well (do not bend over the pup) – stick out your arm with open palm not looking at the pup at all with a treat on the palm. If the pup takes it, the owner to reward the pup with huge praise and jackpot. If the pup will return to the owner when called, then owner calls pup and praises and treats. As with adult dog a critical stage here – by the pup moving away we are reducing the pups stress levels.
- Here we suggest to give the pup a break then go back and this step is repeated a few times till the pup is comfy with it.
- Repeat as above, but this time the person bends down sideways (looking and leaning away from the pup) and after the pup has taken the treat, the person leaves their hand dangling for the pup to smell. If this goes well, the person then tries to scratch the pup on its chest. The owner must watch the pup's body language and be ready to call the pup back if necessary. Do no pat the pup on the head! Imagine how you would feel if an elephant came up to you and started patting you on the head, or else how you hated it when you’re favourite aunt would do a similar thing when you were a child!
- This is repeated over and over with the pup having ‘breaks’ in the process. The next step is to do this with another person, remembering to start right at the beginning. This way the pup can be de-sensitised to different people in a safe manner. It may be necessary to wait until another session to bring in other people – this will depend on how the pup copes with the experience.
- With this kind of work it is important for the owner to practice this exercise in different locations – it often happens that a pup will accept new people at the puppy school but will react fearfully if approached at the shopping centre, for example.
Method 2 – pup is moving around but showing fear of people approaching
This is virtually identical to above, just that the person stands still and it is the pup’s choice as to whether it approaches the person or not - this is always the best option if possible. If this does not work, then the above method can be done – we always prefer for the pup to make the approach and what can also be done in this situation is that the person that is tossing the treats, can first of all kneel on the floor instead of standing, or sit in a chair – both these scenarios will have the result of the perceived fearful person appearing much smaller. If sitting or kneeling when pup is close to be mindful not to lean over the pup.
- Owner has a lot of treats in their hand and so does the person approaching.
- You approach the pup in an arc, as above, and stop before the pups shows any fear and then you stand still and from now on you do not move. Alternatively, the owner can approach the person with the pup on lead and the pup will stop where it feels threatened. Owner to go two steps back to increase the critical distance to start off with.
- Standing sideward’s and not staring a treat is tossed very close to the pup but not close enough to frighten the pup. If the pup takes the treat, owner praises and offers a treat as well. If the pup will not take the treat (and it normally would from owner), then the critical distance may be to close and owner should move pup a few steps further away.
- Person keeps on tossing treats at a distance the pup can cope with and when the pup is happily taking the treats (with the owner treating as well), then the next treats are thrown a bit closer to where the stranger is standing.
- This is repeated over and over and it is the pups choice as to whether it approaches the pup or not – not the stranger. As the pup takes the treat, owner calls it back and praises and treats themselves. This doubly re-enforces the positive experience and also gives the opportunity of stress to remain low by pup walking away from the stranger. If the pups is very fearful, it is always a good idea to do a bit of this exercise and then let the pup have some time out and walk around and do something else.
- This will be repeated until the treat is thrown just next to the person. Here is a critical stage – the stranger offers the treat with an open palm – no bending down over the pup (lean a bit backwards) and no staring – the second the pup takes the treat the owner calls the pup back and praises and treats. If the pup is left smelling the strangers hand for too long this is often where stress will increase, calling the pups away and then repeating this several times normally makes for a successful outcome.
As mentioned above and this is crucial. With an adult dog that is fearful, you would determine the critical distance and the visitor would then stand there – NOT approach the dog – it would be the dogs prerogative as to whether or not they approached the person. Remember that the distance also has to be far enough that if the dog lunged forward it could not reach the person. Crucial to be aware of the dogs body language to determine if the dog was handling the situation or not.
7. Aggression in Pups
Or, as I prefer, RE-active behaviour – the pup, on average, is reacting to a situation it cannot cope with. There are 4 main causes of aggression in pups:-
It is seldom that a pup will show aggression without any prior warning and also for no reason, and here we are talking about the pup exhibiting behaviours such as growling, air biting, snapping or actual bites in a situation where we would rather expect a pup to be friendly. Remember that aggression is normally just fear behaviour. Unfortunately what happens a lot in training situations, unless the instructor has the behaviour knowledge to tackle pups that are showing aggression, this pup is left out of free play and Meet and Greet situations and has very little interaction with people either. All that happens here is that each and every time the pup does react aggressively, the perceived threat backs offs or leaves and the pup figures out that the behaviour works, so keeps on doing it! If you take into account that often the owner will be saying ‘no Fido’ and pulling the pup away, the behaviour is then further reinforced.
Pups that often show aggression will act submissively in other situations. Watch the pup for signs of ears and tail down during the attack and these pups often tremble after the event. Unfortunately owners often comfort this behaviour, again reinforcing it.
Triggers for Aggression
Some pups may seem to be totally balanced and content in their home environment but if something out of the ordinary occurs or they are taken to new locations the fear may set in and the behaviour becomes reactive. Some of the more common triggers are:-
How do we help an aggressive puppy?
Treating aggression is beyond the scope of this course and must always be tackled by a professional www.animal-behaviour.org.za. With any type of aggression, the first step is a visit to the vet.
Or, as I prefer, RE-active behaviour – the pup, on average, is reacting to a situation it cannot cope with. There are 4 main causes of aggression in pups:-
- Genetic and in addition to the genes passed down from parents, it could be a neurological problem in that the pup is just not ‘right’ and does not behave in the normal manner.
- Physical – the pup is in pain such as a malformation of the spine, HD etc.
- Lack of socialization – most definitely the most common cause.
- One event learning – where the pup has received a bad fright, say from being dropped by a child and now associates all children (often about the same size as the child that dropped it) and perceived threats.
It is seldom that a pup will show aggression without any prior warning and also for no reason, and here we are talking about the pup exhibiting behaviours such as growling, air biting, snapping or actual bites in a situation where we would rather expect a pup to be friendly. Remember that aggression is normally just fear behaviour. Unfortunately what happens a lot in training situations, unless the instructor has the behaviour knowledge to tackle pups that are showing aggression, this pup is left out of free play and Meet and Greet situations and has very little interaction with people either. All that happens here is that each and every time the pup does react aggressively, the perceived threat backs offs or leaves and the pup figures out that the behaviour works, so keeps on doing it! If you take into account that often the owner will be saying ‘no Fido’ and pulling the pup away, the behaviour is then further reinforced.
Pups that often show aggression will act submissively in other situations. Watch the pup for signs of ears and tail down during the attack and these pups often tremble after the event. Unfortunately owners often comfort this behaviour, again reinforcing it.
Triggers for Aggression
Some pups may seem to be totally balanced and content in their home environment but if something out of the ordinary occurs or they are taken to new locations the fear may set in and the behaviour becomes reactive. Some of the more common triggers are:-
- Being picked up by a stranger – when you are working with pups yourself you should first and foremost always ask owner if the pup has a problem being picked up. At the same time, pick up the pup in stages and start by placing your hand under the stomach facing forward towards the chest and just leaving it there and see the pup’s reaction. Always watch the body language carefully and stop and back off if necessary.
- When I am going to pick up a pup for the first time, I prefer to do this kneeling on the ground and also doing in stages as above.
- Being picked up by groomer and/or vet and then nails are trimmed. This is why it is always better to prepare a pup for these events during the first 16 weeks of life.
- A pup being on a favourite chair and a stranger either tries to sit next to the pups or pick it up to put it on the floor.
- Objects/food – resource guarding
- Being in any position where the pup feels it may be trapped such as having backed into a corner, being in a crate etc.
- A stranger such as a child or man where the pup has never been introduced to same before, especially when the person bends over the pup as so often happens.
- One event learning. Pups are sponges for soaking up new information and if a pup has had a seriously bad experience as mentioned above, this experience can have become entrenched and the pup will then react to the perceived threat by exhibiting reactive behaviour.
How do we help an aggressive puppy?
Treating aggression is beyond the scope of this course and must always be tackled by a professional www.animal-behaviour.org.za. With any type of aggression, the first step is a visit to the vet.