Dog Aggression Specialist

	Articles: a more in depth look into subject areas

DECEMBER 2006

How close are you to your dog?

The concept of attributing dogs with human traits is nothing new. In fact, the ancient Greeks came up with a word for it around two thousand years ago: anthropomorphism.

As ever, the truth of the matter is not a case of black and white but subtle shades of grey. No doubt in another two thousand years as science advances and we discover more about DNA and the mysteries of the human and canine brain, the picture will develop into sharper focus. In the meantime, we must satisfy ourselves with some basic observations.

Let's start off on common ground. One thing that we all seem to agree on is that humans are at the top of the pile in terms of evolutionary sophistication. For obvious reasons we view ourselves as being the highest life form (although there is increasing alarm that we have totally lost touch with our basic instincts, if not totally lost the plot by endangering the very planet that sustains life as we know it.)

But I digress - back to common ground. We agree that as children, our mental capacity is not fully developed. We survive by our instincts and the basic needs to be fed, watered, sheltered and bonded in a family group where we defer to a natural hierarchy. When you think about it, this is how precisely how dogs survive.

Like children, dogs display the most basic instincts to rough and tumble, compete for toys and establish a natural pecking order. Inherent in this is the need for a parent or leader to set down boundaries and create order and stability out of chaos. Without this both child and dog feel insecure, and may well grow to display anti-social behaviour. You would responsibly bring a child up with love and discipline. Have consistent boundaries. Teach them what is safe and dangerous and what is sociable and unsociable. Dogs too need, love and discipline, consistent boundaries and to learn what is safe and dangerous, sociable and unsociable

Communicating with a child is not so very different from communicating with a dog. Young children like dogs, do not have the power of speech, so you have to work out alternative strategies to speech in order to get through to them. You will find that if you approach a dog in much the same way as you approach a child, life will be a whole lot easier for you. And the dog. Hopefully you will have worked out that praise is a far stronger motivator than punishment.

A positive approach

Take the example of the puppy that makes a puddle on the floor and the child that wets its bed. Neither have any learnt control of their bladder and are simply responding to the call of nature. Neither are being naughty or are in the wrong. Yelling at the child will only make it more stressed and therefore more likely to continue wetting the bed.

In exactly the same way if a puppy has an accident on the carpet shouting will only make it worse. In both cases the way to teach the right way is by praising the child and dog when they perform in the right place ie: the potty or the garden.

Setting an example

Let's take another example. If your daughter called you into her bedroom one evening, because she had seen a spider on her wall and was terrified, how would you react? Would you go into her room and scream like a banshee, tell her how big and scary it was and then both run into the safety of your bed?

No, of course you wouldn't. You would go into her room, tell her that it was nothing to worry about . I tell mine that the little eight legged mini-beast has got lost and is scared. Then I (putting on a brave face) take the spider into the garden, release it and then dive for the vodka bottle. No matter how scary you find a situation, you try to not to transfer your fears to your child.

Here is a parallel with a dog. It is bonfire night, and your dog is quaking and panting . If you respond by physically reassuring him and/or try to soothe him with your voice, he will take this as confirmation that there is something wrong as you are also reacting to it.

This then becomes a habit and the dog will react to fireworks and other loud bangs such as thunder, in the same nervous way whether or not a human is present.

You need to convey to him that the noise of the fireworks is not the Big Bang, just one of the odd ways human celebrate. How?

In both the child and dog fear situation you will all come out of it better if you behave as normally as possible. In the case of the spider you would calmly remove it. In the case of the fireworks you would try and diffuse the impact of the bangs by turning the television up, for instance, and appearing very relaxed.

Close Companions

So what about the similarities between dogs and adult humans?

It is widely acknowledged that there's nothing more than most dogs enjoy than a game of fetch. Have you ever asked yourself why?

Whilst our dogs may be domesticated they have not lost their natural instincts. As a puppy they have no choice but to react to a moving object. In order to survive, dogs need to hunt. In order to hunt, they must have a strong prey drive.

This prey drive is channelled into games of ‘fetch'. We gain much pleasure from playing ‘fetch' games with our dogs. Sometimes we may even become a little concerned if our dogs do not want to play these games.

How many human ‘sports' involve chasing a moving object? How many of these games also involve people working as a team to ‘catch' these objects? Football, rugby, basketball, tennis, badminton etc. I could go on but you get the idea. Why do we enjoy these games? Is it not because we too are instinctively striving for pecking order within the pack and following our predatory instincts?

‘No, no, no!' I hear you say. ‘We are a civilised, sophisticated race who have created theses games for our enjoyment. They are so different to the throw and fetch games our canine friends mindlessly enjoy.'

Don't kid yourself. Look also how football supporters revert to uninhibited child- like behaviour. At worst becoming hooligans and behaving quite literally like savage animals when they find themselves challenged or threatened by an opposing pack.

Or on a more positive note, how hundreds of thousand of fans, unrehearsed suddenly find one voice and break into a perfect heart-stopping rendition of “You'll Never Walk Alone”. Now there's a perfect example of a ‘pack call'.

We all enjoy the close relationship we have with our dogs. Maybe sometimes we don't realise quite how close we are.

MARCH 2007

Autism in dogs?

Can dogs experince Autism, Aspergers or ADHD or a similar psychological condition? Is it possible for dogs to suffer from dyspraxia? One can not answer either of these questions as it has not been scientifically proven. However, some do show symptoms of these conditions. Some dogs do have genuine learning difficulties. I would like to call these dogs ‘Dogs with Special Needs'.

Learning difficulties can occur for several reasons. It can be due to social and/or sensory deprivation as a puppy. It can be the result of experiencing severe physical and/or emotional trauma. It can also, of course, be genetic

Early Learning

A puppy needs to learn how to communicate and interact within the first few weeks of their life. In particular, they need to learn canine communication skills. Whilst they can learn the language at a later date, as with children, they are far more receptive and able to learn at a young age. If they do not learn from a young age, their social skills will not fully develop.

They may be unable to cope with frustration, thus becoming impatient and/or ‘giving up' easily if they do not understand what is wanted of them. Some dogs appear to be disobedient, when in fact they are actually stressed. Liken it to nervous laughter in people.

Lost World

If a dog has experienced severe mental trauma, they often create their own world as an escape from reality. This is a coping mechanism. Whilst this may sound bizarre, it is not as uncommon as you would think. It is often seen in long term kennel dogs. Some dogs will withdraw only under stress but in severe cases, it can be a permanent state of mind.

Dogs who have adopted this coping strategy may also described as disobedient. They may be said to ignore any request from their owner or carer. These dogs are not ignoring their owners. They are simply unaware of the world around them. Most of them have communication problems and become withdrawn when any interaction is invited.

Below are a few characteristics found in dogs that have shown difficulties in learning :

Moving in a disjointed manner

The hindquarters and the forequarters do not move in unison.

Appearing clumsy

Can not always gauge the width of openings, such as doors or gates; trip over or bump into objects

Experience Absences

Unaware of their surroundings including people and animals within it. Stare into space or at a wall with a blank facial expression.

Over - reactive to sound, movement and/or touch.

Inability to communicate

The main reason for anti-social behaviour towards people and/or other dogs is the inability to read what another person/dog is trying to communicate and not being able to communicate in response .

Highly Intelligent

But at the same time, can have difficulty in retaining information. Like us, any dog's mood can change from day to day for no apparent reason. This causes them to be less responsive to training some days more than others. In dogs with learning difficulties this normal trait is exaggerated. t random, they can as if they have never been taught a familiar exercise.

In the case of dogs with anti-social issues, they can appear to have lost all the social skills they have learnt in communication classes, even after a couple of years. This normally only lasts for one session and may not re-occur for many months. This apparent relapse tends to occur less and less as they develop their social skills.

Many dogs probably show one or two of these tendencies but dogs with learning difficulties always show many of them.

These dogs can be trained and/or taught how to overcome social issues the same as any other dog. It is even more important with these dogs that any training and/or rehabilitation be tailored to suit each dog's individual needs and learning abilities. It is important to recognise that if the dog does have learning difficulties, the ability to learn may fluctuate from day to day. You will need to lower your expectations of the dog on days that they are less receptive.

Obviously, the younger the dog is when it's learning difficulties are recognised, the easier it is to prevent behavioural problems. The most common of which, in my experience, is dog to dog aggression due to lack of communication skills. These dogs can learn to communicate with the aid of Teaching Dogs. Some interesting points I have noticed are :

If they are aggressive towards other dogs, it is rare that they physically make contact with the other dog. But if they do, they display little bite inhibition and are not fully aware of their actions.

Any hostile approaches are not personal attacks on any particular dog. They are not necessarily hostile towards the same dog at the next meeting.

Their recovery rate is extremely quick. I.e. they appear to have totally forgotten the incident almost immediately after.

Their behaviour at the classes reflects their general mood of that day. If they are having a positive day i.e. responsive to their owners, enjoying interaction, they will happily attempt to interact with the other dogs. If they having a negative day i.e. are non-responsive and withdrawn, they will either be more reactive or totally withdrawn at the classes.

On negative days, either the dog does not attend classes or they are allocated an area of the field, either on their own or with a specifically chosen teaching dog. The option taken will depend on the individual dog.

Any interaction offered by these dogs is of a purely instinctive nature e.g. flirting with both males or females. Sometimes rush towards dogs playing then just observe them, making no attempt to interact. They can become predatory as in being excited by fast movement and will respond to a dog that instigates a chase but when the dog stops, they ignore the other dog. Whilst they maybe interact, they are not necessarily communicating.

Teaching Dogs are far more tolerant of them, and rarely react to any of their displays of aggression towards other dogs. Most dogs without social issues tend to ignore any anti-social behaviour. Dogs with social issues may react initially but then ignore them.

The dogs they are most likely to interact with are dogs that also have learning difficulties.

Never assume a dog is being ‘stubborn' or ‘disobedient'. If inability to learn appears to be random and/or illogical, consider this theory. It may not have been scientifically proven that dogs do suffer from some of the same psychological conditions as people; it does not mean that they do not.