Sometimes I am the first person my clients consult about their dog’s behaviour, but not always. They may have got advice from other sources. I specialise in reactive behaviour, some people prefer to use the word aggression to describe this.
Here are some things that some of my previous clients have been told about their dogs before coming to me for my assessment and professional view.
• “Your dog is dominant”
• “Your dog thinks he is at the top of the pecking order”
• “Your dog is challenging you for alpha position”
• “You aren’t a strong leader to your dog”
I will point out what I always point out, which is that dominance theory was debunked decades ago. Here are some things that they are then told to do about this. Put the dog in to a situation where it will struggle, and use one of the following…
• A pet corrector spray
• A spray of water in the face
• Shake a can of stones to startle the dog
• A slip lead to yank it around the neck, causing temporary physical discomfort and also emotional discomfort, with the risk of potential to damage structures in the neck and cause longer term health issues (this is often masked as a simple lead ‘correction’, it doesn’t sound as nice when we say it for what it really is, does it?)
• Use a prong collar
• Use a citronella collar to spray citronella in your dog’s face (as well as causing emotional harm this can also cause physical damage to eyes and overwhelm your dog’s senses)
• Use a shock collar
Needless to say, all of these methods have risks of behaviour getting worse, loss of trust in you as somebody delivering this punishment, the dog associating the punishment with what they’re looking at and causing a dislike or fear of that stimulus (are they looking at a car? A dog? A person? A child?), as well as physical and emotional harm to the dog. They can seem to provide a quick fix for the behaviour itself, however, this fix is often very much temporary because the cause is still there, maybe even getting worse. You may even be told to use harsher punishment when one form stops working. These methods focus very much on what we want as a human, but completely dismiss genuine causes for behaviour, which poses a welfare issue for dogs.
Lots of my clients aren’t sure about this and come to me for my opinion. They often share that they don’t feel comfortable using those sort of techniques. Here are some things we find off the back of my assessment process…
• The dog is displaying signs of possible chronic pain, so I make a referral to the dog’s registered vet (this is COMMON), I usually pick this up through behavioural subtleties, gait abnormalities, postural issues
• The dog presents as fearful or anxious around a particular stimulus
• The dog is struggling with their environment generally and would benefit from overall stress reduction
• The dog is over aroused and cannot regulate very well, so needs help with this
• Some of the dog’s other needs aren’t being met fully (this could be around genetic behaviour, quality rest periods, dietary needs)
Now imagine the experience of the dog if they were experiencing something like chronic pain as a cause of their behaviour, if their guardian didn’t seek another opinion, and went along with the advice of yanking them around the neck to punish them whenever they did something? If the dog was scared of what was in front of them, and they got sprayed in the face whenever they responded to it to ask it to get away from them?
Ignoring the cause for behaviour and prioritising human ‘wants’ instead, is a welfare issue for pet dogs.
It is absolutely fine to want your dog’s behaviour to be a bit different, especially if it is causing you (and your dog) stress and making you feel isolated. We can achieve this using empathetic methods, free of force or fear, that work on the causes for your dog’s behaviour, for a truly happier dog (and person!). You can spot the dogs that have been suppressed in to ‘behaving’ vs the dogs who have been coached to behave differently based on their needs, an absolute mile off. It is clear as day in their body language.
Be careful where you take your advice from, and if something doesn’t feel right, then always seek a second opinion. No matter who is giving it.
Sally Lewis 2021
Know Your Dog 