Please be careful where you take your dog training or behaviour advice from. Even if that person says they’re a dog trainer.
I cannot tell you how many times I have worked with a wonderful new client who wants to do right by their dog, that have seen multiple people in the past, but been given really terrible advice. Advice that has been emotionally damaging for the dog, overlooked important causes for the dog’s behaviour such as pain, and resulted in worsening behaviour & relationship breakdown. It isn’t the clients fault because it is so easy for people to use words like “behaviourist”, “expert”, even “positive” (the amount of “positive” videos I see where the dog is stressed out of their mind and being punished left right and centre…please look deeper than this word). I’m always so grateful when these people come to me, but the truth is, we have to work through things that wouldn’t have been an issue if it weren’t for the bad advice from beforehand. It takes a lot longer to regain a dog’s trust and confidence, than it does to destroy it.
Bob who has had dogs for 30 years is as much a behaviourist as I am a dentist just because I have teeth.
Sharon who loves dogs and watches dog videos on social media is not a trainer.
Kevin who has been working with dogs professionally for 35 years but hasn’t undertaken a recent qualification or done any CPD is probably giving you advice that is decades out of date. Just because we did something one way 20 years ago doesn’t mean we should be doing it that way now.
The dog training and behaviour industry is not regulated so absolutely anyone can call themself a behaviourist or trainer without evidencing any level of qualification or experience in their field. Check out qualifications, check out experience, see how they do things.
Some good questions:
Are you insured?
What happens if my dog gets it right?
What happens if my dog gets it wrong?
Do you use punishment, fear, or force? Will my dog be put in situations that will stress them for the purpose of training? (The answer should be NO)
Don’t let your dog be another one waiting for an appointment with a qualified trainer or behaviourist with a worse situation that you had on your hands to start with, because of ending up in the wrong hands. You can look for the UK Dog Behaviour and Training Charter symbol or ABTC symbol on websites for extra reassurance.
An informational post about a breed group that I am seeing much more of recently: Livestock Guardian Dogs. This will be a big post, but an informative one.
Examples of different livestock guardian breeds include the Anatolian Shepherd, the Great Pyrenees, the Kangal, the Caucasian Shepherd, the Komondor, the Romanian Raven Shepherd, the Spanish Mastiff. This is not an exhaustive list of Livestock Guardian breeds but are some that I have seen more commonly in my professional capacity.
Your dog does not have to be a purebred livestock guardian to display behaviours associated with their genetic drive. If they are a cross or mixed breed containing livestock guardian, you may still see this.
What is a livestock guardian dog?
Livestock guardian breed dogs are working breed dogs. They do not herd or move livestock, like herding breeds. Instead, they live amongst livestock as โpart of the flock/herdโ, keeping watch for threats, and protecting them from threats such as predator animals. This is very instinctive genetic behaviour. Livestock guardian dogs are still used across the globe today, especially in more remote farms and ranches.
The livestock guardian dog in a working environment
In the working environment, you can expect this dog breed to keep a watchful eye out for threats. They generally roam without use of things like leads so that they can do their job efficiently. They will be loyal to their flock and their family, but distrusting of things that they arenโt familiar with, or potential threats. They will scan for danger so that they can protect the livestock that they are guarding. They may do perimeter patrolling of fences areas, or bark to warn off threats. They may run at threats. They have been known to get physical in protecting their livestock from predators. Some farms or ranches that use livestock guardian dogs have multiple dogs, to enable one to rest while the other keeps an eye out. The dogs may find a natural โshiftโ pattern between them, or farm/ranch owners may rotate dogs that are “on shift” if they do not do this naturally. They may alert one another to the presence of threats when they spot, smell, or sense something.
Your livestock guardian within a domestic home environment
Our domestic environments are very busy. Homes and gardens can be surrounded by strange noises, bangs, clatters, barks, traffic sounds. Walks can be equally busy, with lots of strange dogs/people, traffic, cyclists, guests, and various forms of environmental stimulation. Here is some behaviour that I have been contacted about in the past, when working with livestock guardian breeds. When reading this, please reflect on the dogโs instinctive working role and where this behaviour might come from.
Struggling with walking equipment
Pulling on walks
Barking at home in response to external sounds
Territorial barking
Distrust of visitors or tradespeople coming to the home
Distrust of strange people, dogs, or other environmental stimulation on walks
Fence patrolling in the garden, or finding โwatch stationsโ in windows
Loyalty to those that they know well but difficulty accepting new people or animals
Protective behaviour that can sometimes be difficult to manage
Aggression towards people or dogs
โฆ.can you see where some of this behaviour might come from? This is why when working with livestock guardian breeds, I will always explore other areas that behaviour could be coming from, and put together coaching/management plans, but I do tend to stress that we arenโt going to turn a livestock guardian that is untrusting of strangers in to a dog that loves them and freely accepts them. Itโs like having a working line collie and looking for an โoffโ button for herding drives.
My livestock guardian breed is such a softy!
Livestock guardians can be very patient with those that are within their social circle, and very loving. They can be very mellow when they are happy, are in the right environment for them, and have their needs met. Livestock guardians can be great companions in the right home, and when their instinctive behaviour that may be displayed is understood.
I am seeing a rise in livestock guardian behavioural enquiries
I live in South Devon, UK. I am seeing a rise in livestock guardian breed cases/enquiries. Many of these dogs that I am seeing, are overseas rescues (overseas rescues are not necessarily always LGDs, but I have seen quite a few recently). This is why it is so important to understand as much as you possibly can about your overseas rescue before adoption or when they arrive with you, and why I often recommend DNA tests when you can. Overseas rescues can be complex dogs with lots of other things to factor in behaviourally and they may not always adapt well to busy home environments. Equally ex-street dogs may have other behavioural tendencies relating to experiences, epigenetics, and trauma that mean they can display some behaviours that sound similar to those above.
Be mindful of other causes for behaviour – there are many
Behaviour can come from many places (thereโs not always just one cause). Some of the above behaviours can also be caused by stress, illness, pain, trauma, learning, other emotional drives (fear, anxiety, frustration – some of this can also be genetic), under/over stimulation, lack of appropriate rest, the environment, or diet issues. If you see a sudden change in behaviour from your dog, or a worsening behaviour, you should contact a vet for a health check in the first instance. If you have concerns about your dog’s behaviour, do reach out for help so that all possible causes for behaviour can be assessed.
Pictured: Great Pyrenees dog standing on grass. I have seen dogs of this breed be mixed up with Golden Retrievers before – very different dogs!
Letโs say your dog struggles with other dogs in their environment. Youโve been making progress, your dog is doing well, and on Wednesday you see a black Labrador over the road on your walk. Your dog doesnโt react. Awesome! But on Friday, you see the same black Labrador, and your dog reacts. Why, when they didnโt on Wednesday?
Sometimes in these situations, trigger stacking has occurred (your dog has had things to process and recover from before they’ve even seen the Labrador). Every dog has an amount that they can cope with before something will push them beyond what they can cope with โ or rather, theyโve had too much to cope with. The thing that does this could cause the dog to react seemingly disproportionately.
An easy to understand, human example:
Scenario A – I go shopping for the day and have a great time. I head home to my husband who has cooked dinner for me, but burnt the lot and it was the last of our food before the shopping arrives. No problem, we will get a takeaway.
Scenario B – I go shopping but canโt find any of the stuff I need and the shops were VERY busy so it took me twice as long and got me stressed out. I decide to leave the shops and go home, but the roads are full of traffic. I take a short cut but hit a huge pot hole which could cause issues with my car. When I finally get home, my husband says that he tried to cook us dinner but burnt it and we have no more food. Cue me reacting pretty badly to my husbandโs cooking efforts because I have already had so much happen to me that day.
The final triggers were the same in each scenario, but in scenario B, Iโd already had so much on my plate with all these triggers stacking up. The final trigger pushed me to a point that was more than I could cope with, so I reacted to it.
So when our dogs seem to react โdisproportionatelyโ to things that they are usually ok with, have a think. Could they be trigger stacked? There may be other reasons at play (new behaviours from our dog always warrant a health check. We should also be aware of signs that our dog could be in pain) but it should always be considered. We could also be habituated to things that our dogs find triggering so may not even notice them ourselves, such as loud car engines or helicopter sounds. If we can be more in tune to whatever our dog could be triggered by, then we can help them and be great advocates for them.
It is important to note that the nervous system does not differentiate between stress, excitement, and high arousal states – stress and excitement will both add to your dogs becoming trigger stacked in the same way.
If we notice trigger stacking occurring, we should try to prevent our dog being exposed to more and more triggers (as best we can), and give them plenty of time to decompress through enrichment, sniffing, licking, and even some rest time at home. Skipping walks for a day if you think your dog would benefit from it emotionally is absolutely fine, and they may prefer a quiet walk after.
Note for my husband: he hasnโt burnt a meal in the 11 years I have been with him, and the poor chap is always used in my trigger stacking examples! Thank-you for always making good dinners (but sometimes Iโd prefer the takeaway).
Letting your dog disappear out of sight, and staying out of sight is it safe?
First up, I will start by noting that accidents happen and sometimes we can sometimes be caught off guard. But here’s something to think about. Is knowingly letting your dog disappear out of sight a safe thing? (I’m not talking about disappearing behind a bush for a few seconds or popping up in between trees as they dash through the woods..I mean you can’t see them, and have no accurate idea where they are, or what they’re doing).
Today, during an appointment, an off-lead dog approached us and stayed with us for a while. It didn’t look like it had anyone with it. I caught up with it whilst it ambled off, put a lead on it, and we gave the number on the collar a ring. No answer. A short while later we found the human it was with, who was quite a distance away.
I was able to approach that dog, attach a lead, and walk with it. It would have been very easy for a dog thief to do the same thing and the dog was so far away from it’s person that they wouldn’t have seen what was going on or been able to prevent it. My intentions were good in that I was worried about the dog, but we see all too often on social media that not everyone is that way inclined.
Off lead dogs will go behind trees to have a sniff and reappear a moment later, but if your dog is running off and going out of sight to the point where you don’t really know what they are doing, then they could:
Eat something that makes them severely ill
Get hurt by something on the floor, like sharp glass
Approach a reactive or nervous dog (these dogs have just as much of a right to an enjoyable walk as any other dog), or a dog that is on a lead for another reason (such as recovering from an injury or having joint pain)
Approach a person or child who is afraid of dogs, or doesn’t want an unknown dog near them
Walk in to a road
Be stolen
Be livestock worrying or chasing livestock (it only takes a dog moving near sheep in at a moderate speed to cause changes in their behaviour which could effect the health of a pregnant ewe, and the unborn lamb)
These are all reasons I keep my dog in view when we are on walks. As dog guardians, we do have to comply with the law around keeping them ‘under control’, and you have to be able to see them to do this. It is how we keep both our dog, other dogs, and other people safe from any physical or emotional harm.
If your dog doesn’t recall reliably, they might not be ready to be off lead in the environment they are in. Use long training lines attached to a body harness (not attached to a collar), practice practice practice, and slowly increase how distracting the area is for them. Secure paddocks can be a great way to start practicing off lead time.
There are several reasons dogs will stop on a walk, some of the common reasons I will summarise below. I’m not talking about stopping to sniff (normal, let them do it) or stopping because they want to play with the dog over the road. I mean showing reluctance to walk. The key thing is that they are NOT doing it to โgive you a hard timeโ or to โget on your nervesโ. Dogs canโt speak English, it is our job to learn to listen to what they try to tell us through the only means that they can. This means learning to โspeak dogโ.
Emotional struggles such as worry or fear: dogs will sometimes freeze on walks for this reason. Note the times that they seem to freeze/stop. Can you spot patterns emerging? E.g. after seeing traffic, after a bus lets off itโs air brakes, after a dog has barked at them, if they are uncomfortable with traffic and are now showing reluctance to walk on pavementsโฆdon’t forget to think about what has happened to them earlier in the day and how this could impact their emotions at the time, too (have they had a trip to the vets or groomers that they found tough?).
Overwhelm: sometimes dogs can get overwhelmed on walks and want to stop walking. Again, observe patterns and triggers. If your dog is becoming worried/overwhelmed on a walk itโs really important you offer them choice to go to somewhere where they feel safe.
Physical discomfort: has your dog been over exercised and might they be aching? Are they a senior dog that might be experiencing joint pain? Do they seem to be reluctant to walk on certain surfaces, for example, tarmac, gravel, or do they want to avoid declines (typically declines can put more weight on certain joints such as elbows and shoulders)? Donโt forget that growing dogs experience growing pains just like us humans, too, so this applies to young dogs just as much as senior ones. There are other health reasons that could cause a dog to stop on walks but these are some common ones relating to joints.
A common misconception is that puppies/adolescents need to be walked to โtire them outโ, but actually, one of the best things you can do for a young dog is let them take it slow, have the time and flexibility (in a safe and appropriate way) to make choices that enable them to feel safe, and engage with stimulus in a way that builds confidence rather than them being hurried on or forced. This will set you up for avoiding things like overwhelm or emotional struggles. For puppies, a walk is not about actually walking.
โThe Weighing Scales Analogyโ. I’m full of visual analogies! This is one I use with a good chunk of my clients when discussing how we achieve emotional change, so I thought Iโd post about it.
Iโm going to use a dog that barks and lunges at other dogs due to being anxious around them, as an example.
This dog has a set of weighing scales relating to this issue. One side represents being worried by other dogs and feeling the need to react to them in certain circumstances. The other side represents feeling safe and being able to think about the dog and make new choices, in certain circumstances.
Many things can affect the reason that the scales weigh the way they do โ experiences & learning, genetics, physical health (physical health issues should always be treated before behavioural coaching), to name just a few. When coaching dogs to feel differently emotionally, we work to gradually tip the scales. This is not a process that happens quickly due to the way the brain and body work.
The โsafetyโ side is affected by good management (working at the dogโs pace and avoiding stressful exposures), helping the dog to have lots of positive experiences, and helping them to think differently in the situation. This is done at the dogโs individual pace. Imagine placing lots of little pebbles on to that side of the scales, when there is a big rock on the โnegativeโ side. We want to slowly help those scales to tip.
With careful management and effective coaching, the scales will gradually tip. If we have set backs or if management is poor, the scales will tip back the wrong way (just how much depends on the dogโs resilience and ability to recover from events). We must account for this in the case of set backs.
For a dog that is worried by other dogs, this means lots of positive exposure (at a distance your dog is comfortable with), avoidance of being pushed beyond what they might be able to cope with, helping them to build positive associations, think & process, engaging other areas of the brain and calming the nervous system.
Set backs might include management failing (dogs running up to you off lead or popping up where you wouldnโt expect them), trigger stacking, accidentally going beyond the threshold of what your dog can cope with, ill health (to name a few).
Tipping the scales takes patience and understanding. You need to be meeting your dogโs other needs (including health needs) to be successful in tipping the scales. Pain and ill health really effect this process. Once the scales are looking a certain way, they arenโt fixed in place forever, they are fluid so we need to be mindful of our dogโs experience of the world around them.
Today, I went somewhere new to me. It was busy, with a lot for me to get my head around. I’m not a city girl but the guy I was with insisted that I sit down whilst he looked at his phone. I tried my best to get out of there but I couldn’t move, and kept being asked to sit down. I don’t feel safe. I don’t want to sit down. Why are you making me sit here?
Later we went somewhere quieter, thank goodness. I was happier, until somebody really scary came towards me. They were really intense and I just felt so vulnerable. I wanted to run away, but instead, I was made to sit again. I was held there and I couldn’t do anything. Whenever I got up, I was asked to sit down. The guy I walk with didn’t like it when I didn’t sit. He didn’t seem to understand the things I said to him, or maybe he didn’t care.
The walk home. We have to cross roads to get home. I don’t really like traffic so don’t like to be around it much, I’d rather hurry up home. But there was that word again, at every crossing…”sit”. Doesn’t he know my joints aren’t what they used to be? All this sitting makes me sore. My legs hurt. I remember it hurting when I was younger, too. I got growing pains and did too much running. I can’t seem to get home if I don’t do it, and I really want to be away from this traffic. I stand and wait, I don’t move in to the road, I just don’t want to sit here. I’m not allowed to move unless I sit. My expression should say it all. Please don’t raise your voice. Please don’t press my bum down and force me to do things.
Back home. I just want my dinner and then to go to bed. I can smell it being made so go out to my bowl. My legs hurt from our walk but I don’t get given my food if I don’t sit first.
I am a dog. I don’t always want to, or feel comfortable, sitting down. Sometimes it’s not a comfortable position for me. Sometimes I would rather not be in the environment that I am in, or around certain things. I am not being stubborn. I hear that word sometimes, and I don’t really know what it means. But this “sit”…it’s the first thing I’m taught and the thing I’m asked to do most, even though I try to tell you that I don’t want to sometimes. I know we are best friends and that maybe you just have trouble understanding me. Can we do less of “sit”?
In a normal four-beat and two-beat gait, dogs will lift the opposing foreleg and hind leg when walking. See the photograph pictured below.
When pacing, a dog will lift the foreleg and hindlimb on the same side when walking or trotting. Typically the two legs on the left hand side will move at the same time, and when they are down, the two on the right side will move together.
Dogs may pace if they are tense for whatever reason. This may include stress, anxiety, frustration. Once the dog relaxes, then they should reset in to more normal four-beat or two-beat gait and stop pacing.
Regular prolonged pacing could indicate a physical issue such as:
Pain, and musculoskeletal problems
Compensating for another issue elsewhere in the body, resulting in a significant adaptation in their gait
Tiredness and physical fatigue
If you notice regular pacing in your dog then I would recommend an assessment by an experienced canine physiotherapist.
There is a common misunderstanding that if a dog comes and sits or lies near you, they want you to stroke them. Lots of dogs enjoy closeness and even contact without actually being stroked.
Misreading this is a common reason that dogs will start to give off stress signals, which if ignored, may escalate to a growl to ask you to stop. Unwanted contact may be even more difficult for dogs who are in pain, have touch sensitivities, or dislike certain areas being touched.
How do I know if my dog actually wants me to stroke them, or if they just want to be close?
Your dog may indicate that they want that sort of contact by nudging you, pressing their head in to you, or pawing at you.
How do I know if they want me to stop?
Look out for body language such as excessive blinking, showing the whites of eyes, leaning away, turning their head away, licking their lips, yawning, panting (when they aren’t hot), narrowing eyes, lowering their head. If this sort of thing is ignored then they might escalate to growling.
Why don’t they just walk away?
Not all dogs feel comfortable doing this or they may be conflicted if they want the proximity to you, just not the stroking.
Consent testing
I always recommend consent testing to give your dog a choice. Allow them to indicate that they actually want you to stroke them. If they do, go ahead, and stop after a few seconds. They may ask you to carry on, if they do, stop again after a few seconds. This regular stopping gives them the opportunity to move away if they’ve had enough.
In this photo example, is me and my boy. He loves proximity to us and will even lean against us like he is here. This doesn’t necessarily mean he wants us to fuss him every time he does it. He isn’t the sort to move away on his own because he wants the closeness.
In short…closeness does not always equal consent, and we should ensure physical contact like stroking is choice-based, as an important part of safety around dogs (as part of bite prevention) and to prevent stress to the dog.
To learn more about consent, choice-based methods, and dog body language, pick up your copy of Empowering Your Dog Through Choice on Amazon.
Have you heard the phrase โ let sleeping dogs lie? That does have some relevance.
I have never been physically removed from a sofa or bed when I am asleep or tired (and I hope you havenโt either!) but I know that if somebody did this to me, I would be unhappy, and it would probably startle me as well. If this happened to somebody, they may snap โleave me aloneโ at the person moving them in their sleepy state. The same goes for our dogs.
If your dog is asleep/tired on the sofa or bed and you need them to move, donโt reach down when they are asleep and do this physically. This may result in you being on the receiving end of a growl, or snap. It is important to note that a growl is a healthy communication for SPACE, and not to be punished (or theyโll stop growling and step up the ladder โ do you want a dog to bite instead of growl?).
First, rouse your dog using your voice to alert them to the fact you are there and bring about their attention. Try to avoid startling them when you do this. Then, use an โoffโ cue (this is something you will need to teach in advance). With your dog on the bed/sofa, encourage them on to the floor by throwing a reward down there, and as they get down, capture this with the word โoffโ. After lots of repetition, this can become a cue you use to ask your dog to get down, and you might include a hand signal of waving a hand towards the floor.
If you are thinking “but at 10pm I just want to get in the bed without having to do this”, prior to your bed time, you may need to manage the situation by preventing access to the bed, or encouraging your dog off of it ahead of time and shutting the bedroom door.
It is important to note that dogs that are experiencing pain or illness may be increasingly sensitive to being asked to move off of comfy areas or dislike being roused when they are tired. Other health conditions, or loss in hearing/vision, may result in dogs being startled more easily. If you notice a change in behaviour from your dog, or behaviour that is new or worsening, you should go for a check with your vet, referencing the behaviour you have seen. Dogs that have guarding tendencies (some consider this possessiveness) may also not like you asking them to move off of/away from areas that they value, so if this is the case, guarding should be explored with a qualified and experienced behaviourist for a tailored management and coaching plan.
Know Your Dog 