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The devil is in the detail…

I was prompted to write this piece after meeting three dogs of the same breed, all displaying similar behaviour issues.

Those of you who have read my missives will know that I encourage people to rescue dogs. However, many will still go to breeders for specific breeds. This is done for many reasons such as always having had a breed, liking the look of them or someone recommending them. Whatever the reason for choosing a particular breed of dog, it is important to understand what you are bringing into your home.

The dog I am talking about here is the Dogue De Bordeaux (French Mastiff). This is one of the oldest breeds originating in France. These are powerful working dogs, very loyal to their families and very protective. This is a dog with one of the largest heads and jaws in the canine world. They are known to be stubborn and will dominate owners who fail to understand or train them properly.

In fact, like most dogs, socialisation is extremely important, as is training. These dogs need firm (not aggressive) discipline. Indeed, ownership of a breed such as this needs strong owners and ones that can commit time to their dog.

One of the three dogs, I mention here, was causing its owners difficulties and called me in to help. I will get back to this dog later.

I have a friend who had a Dogue De Bordeaux and highlighted the need to address the specifics of this breed, failure to do so would, inevitably, lead to problems.  These three dogs reflect his experience.

So, let me talk briefly about each dog.

Dog No 1 was a male around 8 years old. I met him in the woods when out walking with my dog Clint. As we approached, this dog was barking, snarling and lunging toward us. I gave Clint to Sue, who took him to a distance whereby the other dog relaxed. The owners told me this dog had always behaved like this and he was never off the lead around other dogs. As we chatted, this dog began to relax and, indeed, was happy to take a treat from my open palm. It was apparent that this dog was poorly socialised and his behaviour had been allowed to become the norm over his life. Even at eight years of age, this dog could still be helped if the owners were willing.

Dog No 2 was a young female, around 18 months. This dog had been got during the lockdown and, again, had very little, if any, socialisation in its young life. Consequently, although not aggressive, it was very fearful of strangers and other dogs. The owner was now walking the dog but did not really understand how to help the dog become more relaxed and sociable in the situations that were frightening it.

Dog No 3. I met this young dog during a home visit for a behavioural consultation. As I entered the home, this dog was growling, snarling and lunging, but still keeping its distance. Again this dog had been got during the lockdown. The owners both worked and this dog was left alone for periods. It was only walked for 45 minutes a day. The breeder had told them not to do any more than this until it was two years old. This alone was poor advice. These dogs need a lot of exercise. What the breeder should have advised was that the dog could have plenty of exercise, but not high impact until it was mature. This dog had been given very little training and was allowed on the furniture and often slept on or in the owner’s bed. This dog was displaying quite a lot of behavioural issues – dominant aggression (becoming aggressive if the owners tried to remove it from the bed or sofa), fearful aggression, protective aggression, refusal to relinquish objects, and this list went on.

Dog No3 was displaying a lot of issues that result from not doing the right things for the dog. This dog was dominantly aggressive and did not understand its’ position in the hierarchy of this family. Having removed the dog and placed it in another room (punishment) and then reintroduced it into the room where I was chatting with the family on multiple occasions, the dog relaxed and went to sleep within a yard of where I was sitting. Although this dog had multiple issues, with so much care and time she would be fine.

The point here is that whatever dog you welcome into your home it is critical that you understand the breed or mix of breeds you are taking on. All dogs need the basics; kindness, understanding, training, socialisation and they must understand their position in the home hierarchy.

Finally, I mentioned dominance aggression earlier. In my next article, I will discuss the difference between and dominant dog and a dominantly aggressive dog.

Getting the right advice – tale of a distressed dog…

I have touched on the subject of seeking advice and distressed dogs on a number of occasions. A recent case prompted me to return to the topics.

Separation anxiety is highly distressing for dogs and owners alike. In fact, it was rehoming an extremely distressed dalmatian that set me on the road to retraining as a canine behaviourist. I prefer to use the term ‘separation distress’ because that is, precisely, what the affected dog is experiencing. A distressed dog may become destructive, extremely vocal and mess in the house to name a few of the signs of separation distress. It can, indeed, prove a difficult thing to put right. Therefore, it is critical that it is approached in the right way.

Recently, I was approached by a couple who needed help with a dog rescued from overseas. The dog had been with them for a couple of months. They had sought help from a local dog trainer, NOT a behaviourist (but one who suggests they can help with behavioural issues). They were advised that, because the dog was displaying signs of separation anxiety, it should not be left alone at all. It could be helped, the trainer said, by hiding some treats around the house and teaching it some tricks. Not surprisingly, this was not working.

It had got to the point that one of the owners had just quit his job so he could be at home with the dog. I visited the couple at home to see how I could help. I was met with a lovely little dog, a little nervy, but that is not uncommon for a rescued dog. The dog slept downstairs with no problems. So that sounded like a good start until the owner said he, of course, now slept on the couch to keep the dog company. Not so good. This couple were, clearly, two compassionate people who were trying hard to help their new companion. Getting the right advice was critical. The ‘trainer’ had, in my opinion, given some pretty poor advice and if it was not rectified the dog would get worse.

A dog with separation distress may indeed have to be not left alone for a period but, a strategy must be put in place to help the dog get over the issue.

Many rescue dogs, whether from overseas or not, will have come from difficult situations. They, often will not have been socialised as puppies, they may have been abused, abandoned to the streets where they face a fight for survival. All of these things impact a dog to varying degrees. It is not surprising when these dogs are brought into a kind, safe home that they can, rapidly form strong bonds with their new human companions. The result of this can, not surprisingly, be the source of separation anxiety. The longer it is allowed to develop, the harder it may become to deal with.

Fortunately, this couple knew they had a developing problem and made sure they sought advice, following a recommendation, they came to me, a trained behaviourist. I looked at a video of the dog displaying its distress. On a scale of 1-10, I would have put this dog at about 3 or 4. Not severe by any means, but, without the right approach, the anxiety would get worse.

After some discussion, I put in place a programme for teaching the dog how to be calm and a system to help the dog get used to being home alone. In fact, on my first visit, I demonstrated that this pup could be apart from its owners and remain calm. It would be a matter of building up the time apart.

My final thought on this is that owners need to understand the difference between trainers and behaviourists.  If you just need advice on basic stuff like sit, stay, and recall, then a trainer will be able to help. However, if the dog has behavioural issues then it is the canine behaviourist who will help.  The choice can be difficult for a dog owner because many trainers offer behavioural advice, regardless of the fact they may not be trained to do so.  Of course, there are some trainers out there that are fully qualified behaviourists as well.  Buyer beware…

Keeping track…

One of the common fears of all dog people is that of losing their pup.  This is one of the main reasons I ensure people understand that, probably, the most important thing to teach your dog is the recall. However, with the best will in the world, even the best-trained dog may get into a spot of bother occasionally.

Clint is my current charge, a rescued Lurcher who, I believe has been used as a stud dog and had very little, if any, training before he came to my home. Since, I have spent many hours teaching Clint about being a dog in a home, including, of course, intensive recall training; something we practice every day on every walk. Consequently, Clint’s recall is exemplary, particularly for a  Lurcher (many dogs like him will never be let off lead).

In the course of our outings, Clint can be relied upon to return on command or whistle, probably 98% of the time. For a Lurcher, with Clint’s background, that is pretty astounding. However, if a deer happens to cross Clint’s path, he WILL chase it! It is hard-wired in his DNA.  This happened a couple of weeks ago, a deer shot out of the undergrowth, directly under his nose, and he was off at pace before I could respond. He was oblivious to me, not surprisingly.

After a troubling 45 minutes, I finally recovered him. He was in a sorry state. He was exhausted, he had literally run himself to a standstill and had multiple minor cuts to testify to his chase. He was distressed to have lost me in the bargain. I took him to the vet for a check, all seemed OK. However, a little later he was passing black urine and did not look well. Another discussion with the vet ensued.

Clint was most likely suffering from ‘exertional rhabdomyolysis.’ He didn’t worry me with the full picture, he did recommend plenty of water and rest for a week or so.

Because of clint’s protracted chase he had suffered muscle injury/damage that had caused the release of muscle breakdown products, myoglobin and potassium. Having excess potassium in the body can result in irregular heartbeats, and myoglobin is known to cause acute kidney failure. The myoglobin was responsible for the brown-coloured urine. In severe cases, this can be fatal to a dog such as Clint. It is not uncommon in racehorses and racing greyhounds.

Clint’s condition was not severe and he has made a rapid and full recovery. It did, however, get me thinking about any precautions that I could take in the future. I decided, after discussions with Sue, my better half, that we could take a look at trackers. I would at least be able to locate Clint a lot faster if I knew his general direction.

After much research, I opted for a product. Clint is seen below modelling it.

The tracker is lightweight and has a limitless range. It records each walk and can also live track Clint if need be. Set up correctly it is very accurate. The tracker works using the 2G network so requires a small monthly fee, around £4 – cheap at the price for peace of mind in my opinion. The tracker itself was around £55.

Although the tracker has many features including setting zones that generate alarms if Clint should venture too far (something I haven’t used), there is one that is proving very useful. The tracker allows me to record voice commands that I can activate from my phone. This is proving an effective training tool. I use it to continue Clint’s recall training. So, if he is out of sight in the woods, I issue a remote voice command paired with a whistle blow. The effect on Clint is he is a little startled and responds quickly to the whistle and returns to me. A very useful feature that is further strengthening Clints’s recall.

That said, this voice command is only effective because Clint has received, and continues to receive strong recall training.

So would I recommend this approach to others? I certainly would for dogs that may, on occasion, get themselves lost. Better safe than sorry.

Stop spraying water at our dogs to control them…

Using any sort of negative training techniques with our dogs is anathema to me. I witnessed an example of this today which led to a rather unpleasant exchange. I am the sort of person that cannot just walk by when I see dogs being treated badly.

I was walking with my rescued Lurcher, Clint, when we came across a chap with a very young German Shepperd (GS). As we passed on opposite sides of the road, his dog barked and grumbled a little. No major thing, really. The owner’s immediate, very aggressive response, was to utter ‘I’m not having that,’  and then yank on the dog’s lead and spray water into its face. The dog was frightened and cowed by this action.

I stopped and called across asking him to desist from his actions, telling him it was not necessary to do that to his dog. Of course, the response was abusive with him telling me he had had dogs for years and he was experienced in ‘training’ them. Indeed, he asserted that he had got his dog from the police and this is the way they did it. I doubt this very much. I moved on, advising him to rethink (he won’t) his approach. More abuse, of course, followed.

So why is this approach so undesirable. Firstly, it may have been done for years but that doesn’t make it right. In fact, this type of approach can be harmful to your dog. Let me be clear, the spray might stop the dog’s behaviour temporarily, however without the spray present the dog is highly likely to revert back to the behaviour.

I contacted 2 different police dog training units. Interestingly, one head trainer was mortified and stated that they would never use such an approach. The other said that they, sometimes, used a light spray but, immediately, rewarded a dog with praise/treats when the desired response was achieved.

In my view, in canine behavioural terms, using a negative, and in my opinion, a cruel method such as spraying the dog will not change the dogs’ behaviour permanently. A review of aversive techniques published by the Dog’s Trust makes interesting reading – the welfare impact and efficacy of canine training methods_v4.

What we should be doing is teaching our dogs alternative and appropriate behaviours that they may be rewarded for. For instance, with this GSD, teaching him to be calm and to sit when asked in the presence of other dogs is straightforward. It requires no aggression or dominance of the dog. Positive, reward-based training is the only method to be used in my view.

Of course, many owners have been practising the types of thing this particular owner was demonstrating for many years, with a number of different dogs, as was the case with this individual. He, like many, was convinced he was an expert and knew what he was doing. He didn’t – period.

Reactive dogs and private fields – a view…

I am prompted to talk, a little, about how we deal with dogs who have experienced some traumatic event. There is an increasing trend to ‘help’ dogs who are maybe fearful or ‘reactive’ (a much-overused term in my opinion) to keep them away from situations that cause them problems. There are many people that only exercise their dogs in private fields, away from other dogs.

I commented, recently, on an article from a national newspaper, that extolled the virtues of this type of approach. As usual, I received somewhat passive-aggressive responses from dog owners who adopt this approach. Most were along the lines of ‘how dare I offer a view that disagrees with the practice.’

Being a fully qualified canine behaviourist allows me to offer an informed view, I think. I, like many, dog owners have experienced dog attacks and some very difficult encounters over the years. Of course, I could have reacted to these events by ‘protecting’ my dog from any potential, future problems. By doing this, I would be denying my dog a full life. That means running free with other dogs and socialising fully. Dogs do not experience this by being restricted to a field, even with a few other dogs or by doing group walks where the dogs are always on the lead.

I have helped many dogs over the years with the problems cited by many of the owners who choose to keep their dogs away from others. My response is always finding ways to help a dog with its problems and, to get them to a point where they can experience a ‘full’ dog’s life.

In my experience, by working with dogs who are fearful of, or unhappy with various situations, the majority can be helped to lead a full, happy life. Of course, there will always be some exceptions.

I understand the responses of some dog owners to traumatic events. However, I know that through positively working with affected dogs that they can be helped to overcome their problems and return to a full dog’s life. That is, simply, my experience and my view.

Degree of difficulty…

Watching the Olympics over the past few weeks got me thinking about dogs and how we approach training them, or trying to change their behaviour. Let me explain.

If we consider two Olympic disciplines – diving and gymnastics.  Competitors choose a level of difficulty for a vault or a dive for instance. Their resulting scores reflect their performance in relation the the degree of difficulty they faced. Of course, the judges take into consideration the level of difficulty and score accordingly. So, why is this relevant to our dogs?

Many dog trainers or behaviourists offer pretty standard packages as a one fit solution for our dogs. I would suggest this has it’s difficulties. One size, rarely fits all. We should be looking at our dogs as firstly, animals, then dogs and, finally as breeds. When we do this it becomes clear, to me, that we need to be flexible in our approach to helping our dogs, either through training or dealing with behavioural issues. My current charge illustrates my point.

Clint, he came to us with no name and just a number. So the dog with no name became Clint. Fans of spaghetti westerns will get the joke. He is a Lurcher (basically, a Greyhound Cross). These dogs have for centuries been bred for hunting, particularly hare coursing. Similar, in this respect, to Greyhounds, hunters originally but, now trained for racing and chasing fast moving furry objects (the hare). Many of these dogs are, eventually, re-homed when they are no longer of use as money earners for the racing fraternity.

Because of the worries about prey drive in these dogs, they are commonly muzzled and restricted to a life on a long lead. In my opinion, an appalling fate for such an athletic and joyous dog. So why do owners do this? It is because they are convinced these dogs cannot be trained. My own vet when checking my fella out said he should never be allowed of the lead. As a behaviourist I have to disagree. Nearly, all dogs, although there are exceptions, are trainable and capable of learning new behaviours and skills. Greyhounds and Lurchers need not be doomed to a life on the lead.

They key point here is understanding a breed and its’ history. Yes, Greyhounds and Lurchers will possess a prey drive, inherited from centuries of breeding. However, this can be managed and tempered. Clint, for instance, in a few short weeks has learnt the recall, something we constantly work on. He comes to my voice, signal and the whistle. He comes from being deep in the woods after chasing a squirrel. How is this possible? Understanding the dogs’ nature is of paramount importance.

Clint is never of lead without his muzzle, this is more for his safety and prevents him from making a mistake. He is allowed to meet other dogs off lead and to play with them if the situation allows. I take care to monitor each encounter very carefully. If, as it sometimes does, Clint’s behaviour and body language leans towards prey like behaviour, he is back on the lead. Obviously, when we are approaching smaller dogs, he is on lead and is allowed to meet them in a controlled manner. In the short time Clint has been with us he has met many puppies, small dogs, large dogs. You get the picture. Each interaction is managed and Clint is making fantastic progress. The joy of seeing an athlete like Clint in full flow running on the beach is a wonder to behold.

So back to my point about degree of difficulty. If we consider Clint’s breed we would not let him off lead. However, understanding the challenges and ‘the degree of difficulty’ faced by a dog such as Clint we can adopt a different approach. By protecting him with a muzzle and investing time and effort into him he can live a full and enjoyable life, mainly running free. Same size does not fit all.