Boundaries

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Dogs love and need boundaries. They are born to thrive in ordered, social environments.

When we romanticize our dogs and do not provide the leadership and structure they need because we want them to be “free”, we are contributing to the creation of an unhappy, misbehaving, sometimes neurotic creature. A dog’s happiness lies in a well-ordered social structure. It’s freedom comes in knowing clearly what is expected of it.

When do you begin introducing boundaries? As soon as a dog, puppy or adult, enters your home. How and when you begin setting boundaries will affect your relationship and the shaping of your dog’s personality for years to come. Too heavy a hand and you may turn a healthy personality into a fearful one – too light and you may have a wild destructive banshee on your hands!

Seek balance. I have worked with dogs that responded to a firm glare and other that needed an air horn to get their attention. Know your dog and no matter which method of training you may use – always employ it an a calm and focused manner.

Puppies and Boundaries – It may seem cute now but…

As soon as you welcome a puppy into your home, begin to draw clear and fair boundaries for it. Start thinking about what you want your puppy to be like when it is fully grown and begin creating that now.

Patience, patience, patience…

There are lots of good resources for training puppies but one thing most new owners aren’t told is how much time and consistency it takes for their efforts to bear fruit. I am often contacted by new owners because their puppy is driving them nuts, constantly nipping, biting, jumping and chewing. They have read books, done what trainers or breeders have suggested but the behavior persists. They fear that their puppy is particularly aggressive or weird. In fact their puppy is perfectly normal!

There are no magic formulas. Your puppy will not suddenly stop trying to use you as its favorite teething toy because you grabbed its muzzle and shook it, or held on till it whimpered or gagged it. Nope.

So why try? The importance of making the effort cannot be over-emphasized. Though you may not see quick results your efforts are having an effect.

  • Puppies are always learning. You are helping it develop focus.
  • At the very least, you are minimizing the behavior and setting the groundwork for formal training a few months down the line.
  • The training you do when the pup is older will be much more effective and progress more quickly if it doesn’t have to first unlearn a host of bad habits.
  • Most importantly you are establishing your role as a leader.

So hang in there! I promise your patience and consistency will triumph eventually. Puppies are goofy creatures and their learning is not linear. You may feel as though you aren’t getting through and nothing is changing. Then suddenly one day, your pup responds to every command, house training accidents stop and you feel like you’ve turned a corner. But then aha – next week the pup doesn’t seem to remember its name! Training is not linear!

 

 

A Word About Alpha Rolling: DON’T

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There was a time, a few years ago when the “alpha roll” was in vogue in the training world. Some owners and trainers viewed “the roll” as the ultimate expression of dominance and control; the antidote to extreme behavior issues. It became a form of “correction” that found its way into some very popular training books. Instead of being reserved for the most egregious situations it was employed as a quick way to extinguish unwanted behaviors. Sometimes it was applied accompanied by the anger and frustration of the owner or trainer.

It wasn’t long before trainers and behaviorists began seeing the backlash of these “corrections”.

Anger and frustration are never expressions of alpha. When we approach our dogs in this state of mind we appear hostile and out of control. An “alpha” embodies leadership, stability, clarity, firmness and fairness.

Alpha rolling is dangerous to both you and your dog. It can cause irreparable damage to your relationship. If your dog is dominant aggressive, an alpha roll can increase their level of aggression. If your dog tends to be submissive you risk making it truly fearful. A truly fearful dog that has lost trust can escalate into being a biter. It can escalate dangerous behaviors.

In the natural world, canines will only initiate an alpha roll as a last resort. In a conflict it is the last resort. It is surrender or die. When we attempt to assert ourselves as alpha over our dog by initiating this action, in its mind we are threatening to kill it. You are not only demanding it submit to you but to the possibility of death. This is not a bluff or training method to a dog. It is an assault on its life especially when accompanied by negative emotions.

It can take months of dedicated work to rehabilitate a dog that has been rolled. No matter what the issue is, I cannot think of a situation where a roll is appropriate.

 

Good Dogs Gone Bad!

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Dog aggression is unfortunately a common problem these days. There has been a great deal of speculation as to why. Some say it has to do with poor breeding practices, or the shear numbers of dogs in our communities. Some even speculate that we have bred out the ability of dogs to communicate with one another effectively. And certainly I have seen more than one dog fight because a happy go lucky dog failed to read the unmistakeable warning signals that were being sent.

Whatever the overriding cause may be one thing is certain; if you have a dog that exhibits true aggression toward other dogs or humans it is critical that you understand the causes for your particular dog.

It is also important to discern true aggression from what may be a completely normal and dog appropriate response. I realize that there will be many that will disagree with what I am about to write but, as a society I believe that we have humanized our dogs to the point that they are often held to standards of behavior that are more appropriate to humans than dogs.

Aggression is a complex problem that requires a multi-pronged approach. A trainer can be helpful but a qualified behaviorist is going to be the person who can identify why your dog is getting triggered and this, again, is critical. A mis-read aggression issue given an inappropriate response can push a dog into a nearly unrecoverable situation. It can escalate risk both for you and your dog.

Aggressive behavior issues can be a heartache but with thoughtful patience and consistency it can be dealt with. I am writing from both personal experience as an owner and as someone who has worked with some scary dogs. So don’t give up!

 

Puppies in Public –

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When our pups are between 4 and 6 months of age, its a great time to increase their exposure to the world beyond home. This is a fun and exciting time.

When you begin taking your puppy out for walks, its a good idea, initially, to keep them close to you and on leash.

Around this age, most puppies experience a second “fear period”. During this time things that our pup was indifferent to, may suddenly and irrationally cause it to panic. It is not uncommon for a well adjusted puppy to attempt to back out of its collar at the sight of a shadow on the ground. In these situations its important to encourage the puppy and continue to move past the stimulus in a matter of fact manner. With humor and patience you can help your pup move through this phase quickly.

Greetings – Dog 2 Dog

Some of my clients are very surprised by the reception their puppies receive from older dogs while out and about. There are plenty of mature dogs that take to puppies and respond immediately to their playful overtures. On the other hand there are also many that may find them annoying. The more mature dog may think your pup is in need of a correctional growl or nip. Your puppy may howl dramatically in response but most of these encounters are more traumatic for the owner!

It is important in these situations not to over-react! Your emotion may only serve to escalate the tension between dogs. The owner of the other dog may be just as surprised as you are. It is important to remember that this may not always be a demonstration of true aggression but rather a natural communication of boundaries.

In the wild, a young pup would learn through trial and error how to approach another pack member. Its mother and the pack would have taught the pup in its socialization phase how to greet appropriately.

However there are plenty of poorly socialized, dog- aggressive dogs around. In any case you have no way of knowing with certainty which type of dog you are approaching. In my experience it always better to err on the side of caution in these situations and allow your puppy to approach slowly or hold your pup and allow the other dog to approach.

Greeting People-

Walking a pup is a little like being on parade. Lots of people will want to rush up to your pup. Some puppies return the favor by wanting to rush up to every living thing they see.

For enthusiastic greeters, I recommend having your puppy try to maintain a “sit” during greetings. This is going to be difficult for gregarious pups but will pay off big time in the long run. It will help you get through or even avoid the dreaded “jumping” behavior that some owners never successfully overcome.

For those of us with shy puppies – it is very important that we keep their encounters with people and dogs as positive as possible. Have treats with you. Ask people who want to say hello call your puppy to them and give them a treat when they get close. Ask that they not reach out to the pup but allow it to come to them. Sometimes ignoring a shy pup but staying in proximity will give them the confidence, driven by curiosity, to investigate a stranger. It is very important to expose shy puppies to lots of social situations without putting too much pressure on them. Overwhelming a shy or fearful dog by trying to force it to be social will only intensify its fear. The consequences can be extremely unfortunate. Intensifying a puppies fear at this stage can be the seeds of a fear biter later in  adolescence.

If our puppies exhibit truly fearful behavior as more than just a phase our, confident. calm, and even-handed behavior will be more important than ever.

Whatever type of puppy we have, these early encounters will have a lasting impact.

 

So You Think You Want a Puppy?

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There are many resources today that offer to help you decide which breed of puppy may best suit your situation. They ask a series of standardized questions regarding the size of your family, home and yard. And certainly, questions like these are important. Yet time and again, no matter how well they thought they had prepared, people tell me nothing prepared them for the actual day-to-day commitment and stamina a puppy requires – no matter what the breed may be.

I cannot emphasize this enough – make sure that everyone in your home is looking forward to having a puppy. It will have an enormous impact on your life for many years and one way or another, everyone will be involved.

Take your time – If you are undecided about the type of dog you want don’t depend on what you read. The information will be a good start but most of the information will be very general and sometimes biased. Go to dog shows if you can. Talk to breeders. Most good breeders will be happy to speak with you honestly about the pluses and minuses of their breed.

If you think you already know the breed of dog you want – do your research. You may know a dog that embodies the perfect dog in your mind, but that dog may not typify the breed. A lot of work may have gone into that outstanding dog.