Dog Behaviour

If a dog has behavioural problems, they often stem from lack of leadership. Dogs are hard-wired to follow a pack leader. Wild dogs do it, and so do their ancestors, the wolf. So even if you don't own multiple dogs, in your dogs' mind, you are his pack.

There are two positions in a dog pack: follower and leader. There is only ever one leader, and the rest of the pack follow his orders. The leader makes sure his pack have enough food and water, a safe place to sleep and protects them from any threat. Leaders don't ever get angry at their pack. They stay calm and confident in every situation, so his pack know there is nothing to worry about.

You can emulate this natural order in your home. If your dog say, goes mad barking at the window whenever another dog or person walks past; instead of shouting or hitting him, just walk over very calmly, give him a firm touch to the rear to snap him out of it, take hold of his collar (don't yank it!) and guide him to another room. You have just solved the problem in seconds without any sound or stress. The way a true pack leader would! Yes, it will need a few repitions, every time your dog does it; but eventually it will get through!

All behavioural problems have roots. The dog always preforms these behaviours for a reason. As much as I would love to cover all dog behaviour issues, I would feel it unwise to do so. Everydog is different and I wouldn't want you to misdiagnose your dog's behaviour. However, I will show you what I did to overcome Tilly's behavioural issue.

 Tilly's Problem - Fear Aggression

Fear aggression is when the dog is nervous/fearful of certain people - dogs, rooms, places or objects.

Fearful dogs will normally lunge at other dogs or people (depending on what it is scared of). This is merely a dog 'bluffng it'. They want to make sure the thing they are scared of does not come anywhere near them.

You can tell if a dog is fearful of something by the body language. The tail will tuck under the body and the ears will flatten. Normally this is enough to tell other dogs "I'm not a threat - want nothing to do with you, so leave me alone". Sociable dogs wil recognize this and will usually do exactly that - leave them alone. However - this can also work against the dog, as dominant/aggressive dogs may see the dog as being vunerable and attack it.

If the signals are not noted - and dogs continue to follow or interact with the fearful dog - it will usually snap. Not enough to seriously hurt - but rather as a warning. "I don't want to hurt you - but I will if you do not leave me alone"

This where most humans fail miserably. If a dog is scared of humans - we automatically want to pet it, give it food ect. This is they worst thing you could do. By petting and giving affection to that state you are saying "It's okay to be like that. In fact, I am going to reward you  for it"

My own dog Tilly developed fear aggression. It is by far one of the hardest forms of aggression to cure - but not impossible. She became scared of German Shepherds and more primal-looking dogs, after she was attacked by a few as a puppy.

(The funny thing is, our neighbour owns a GSD and she is best friends with him!)

What I did to overcome the problem was fairly simple and I recommend it to anyone having fear aggression issues with their dog.

1. Find a helper who owns a calm, social dog (can be a certain breed/type - whatever your dog is scared of) or if your dog is fearful of humans (male, female - certain physical features) find a friendly human who is confident around dogs. (They cannot be afraid of the dog)
2. Start at a distance. Prehaps have your helper on one side of the street - you on the opposite side. Start walking parallel to each other. If your dog lunges - correct her and keep moving. Keep walking for as long as it takes for your dog to calm down and get 'in the zone' (tail in the middle or low - not tucked under or erect - ears back, mouth open, tounge lolling - an overall relaxed body.) This can take a long time. I've been walking a dog for an hour plus before the ears even started to droop and relax! Don't give up though!
3. Do this for many sessions. Keep the distance the same until your dog does not lunge at that distance. Eventually move closer. Do note that she will probably get worse but calm quicker at first. You should be aiming for the two dogs/people to walk side by side.
4. Do not be nervous or scared!! This will travel down to your dog and ultimatley make her worse! If you are really worried about your dog doing any damage - muzzle her. Do not veiw the muzzle as a bad thing - you are being responsible! You will relax - which lets your dog relax! The rehabillitation will move on much quicker if you stay calm!

The best thing to do for a fearful dog is to ignore it. Let it see for it's self you mean no harm. It will soon calm down and come over to investiagte. Let it sniff you and only when it seems totally confident try to pet it.

The technique I used with Tilly's fear - aggresion can be used with any dog with any type of aggression, fear, dominant, human, dog ect. Even nervous dogs will benefit from this exercise.

The most common issue I see in dogs is Hyper-activity. Uneducated people make the mistake of wanting a 'working' dog. Either for social status, or the fact the just 'like the look' of the dog. This is a BIG mistake. Working dogs were bred to do just that. Work. If they don't they will put their energy into other unwanted behaviours.

 Hyper- Activity

Most hyperactive dogs need to be stimulated far more than average medium energy dogs. Certain breeds are more prone to hyperactivity than others; these are usually the working breeds such as:

• Border Collies
• German Shepherds
• Siberain Huskies

These dogs need to be physcolgically challenged. An hour's walk a day is not sufficant. They were bred to work and usually these instincts are very strong. These dogs could walk for two hours plus. And unless you are prepared to walk six hours day - I would advise against owning these breeds! Of course you can get the odd  meduim - low energy dogs in a working breed, however these are quite rare. If you are sure you can commit to owning one of these breeds, make sure you purchase a puppy from pet - not working - lines. These dogs are calmer and more suited to a pet lifestyle. If you want to adopt one of these breeds from a rescue kennel - beware. The reasons the majority of these dogs are unwanted is because their previous owners could not cope with them and their active natures.

There are a few things you can do to help stimulate high energy dogs. In doing this you will stop them from indulging in destructive behaviour such as: chewing, digging, barking ect.

• Lots of walks! At least two 2 hour walks a day.
• Start a dog sport such as Agility, obedience or Flyball. Specailist classes included working trails and Schutzhund.
• Activity balls and puzzles. These will help keep your dog busy while you are unable to be with him.