dog behaviour

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Your dog is an individual!

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There is more variation between individuals than between breeds.

Yes, it’s one of my favourite sayings.

And I can’t say it often enough. 

Yes, it’s true that spaniels are in general more like each other than like say, huskies, or whippets. But you can find plenty of spaniels who don’t like hunting, huskies who are couch-potatoes, and whippets who can’t run for toffee. 

The thing is, that humans and dogs are very similar in this respect. 

Take your own family! I’m sure you’ll find there are siblings who had the same parents, the same upbringing, the same food, the same school … and yet who are totally different in many ways. 

It’s one of the joys - and challenges - of parenthood, to find what works for each individual child. Lumping them all together will come to grief, sooner or later. 

Same with dogs!

And it’s just the same with dogs. Just because they happen to be the same breed as your previous dog doesn’t mean they’ll be a carbon copy (copy/paste, or duplicate, for younger readers!). 

Even pups from the same litter show huge divergence in character from very early on. 

Sarah Whitehead says: Behavioural scientists have been measuring these early differences for decades. Even at just eight weeks of age, puppies in a single litter vary in confidence, sociability, curiosity, activity levels and their responses to unfamiliar situations. (Wilsson & Sundgren, 1998; Fratkin et al., 2013).

Further, in a more recent study (Barnard et al, 2017) it was found that 

“the effect of litter emerges as playing a stronger role than breed in modulating puppies’ behaviours … The large variability both within and across breeds found here, mirrors results with adult dogs.”

“The large within-breed variability found among a generic sample of breeders, highlights the importance of shifting the attention of future dog owners from just ‘breed selection’ to a more careful assessment of the pups’ characteristics. Relinquishment of dogs to shelters may be linked to failed expectations, which could be fuelled by an inadequate/misleading view of a specific breed. Hence, increasing public awareness of the importance of visiting the breeder, asking about breeding strategies, seeing the parents of the litter and assessing individual behavioural differences among littermates are key steps to engender informed buyers.”

Now, where have you heard all that before?? ;-)

See the resources below for clues. 

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Take a new look at your dog!

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I consider feeding one of the most important things for my dogs’ long-term health and longevity. 

So I review their diets frequently.

Back in the day, I always used to feed my dogs once a day, in the evening. But they also had training treats, plates to lick, bones left lying around, the occasional foodtoy, and so on. 

Then when I started taking them on camping trips and we walked so much,

I’d scatterfeed kibble in the grass beside the van for them to snuffle up in the morning, while I got washed and dressed.

Then I started to scatterfeed outside at lunchtime, at home.

This was largely to get Cricket the Whippet out to do her business - I didn’t like her to stay in an armchair for hours and hold it! 

Portrait in coloured pencil by Beverley Courtney

So then, one year, Cricket started to get panic attacks.

She’d be shaking, panting, gasping, her eyes on stalks, desperate to get on my lap … These epidosdes could last for an hour, and they were getting more frequent … 😳

I did a little detective work 🕵🏻‍♀️ - and realised that these attacks happened only in the morning!

Aha! 

So I started to give Cricket a handful of food first thing in the morning.

Immediately, the panic attacks stopped, and we never had another.

What a simple solution!

How can I adapt this discovery to my dog management?

The moral of this story?

We change.

Our dogs change.

We need to observe and adapt.

And not just always do the same as we’ve always done, or what’s always worked for previous dogs. 

“Every dog is a study of one.” - Grisha Stewart

Just as we’re all different, so our dogs are all different. 


For our special dogs …

And it got me thinking about how we could be seeing things in our reactive dogs that could easily be changed by attending to diet and timing.

Along with all the other considerations, of course, such as sleep (you know how I’m always harping on about sleep!), exercise - type and quantity, mental stimulation, and all the rest. 

When did you last look closely at what may have become a comfy habit in caring for your dog? 

It’s so easy to drift along, saying, “This is how it’s always been,” and not noticing that things are changing - for the worse.

It’s like when someone sees your children for the first time in ages and says, “How they’ve grown!”. 

Well, duh, of course they’ve grown! But being with them every day, we don’t notice things that are changing. (And I don’t just mean that their jumpers are too tight.) We change all the time .. all the time.

Experiment with your dog!

So it’s time to start experimenting! Look critically at your daily doings with your dog - especially your reactive dog.

🐶 Would it help to move his walk from the morning to the afternoon?

🐶 Would it be better if he only had walks 3-4 days a week, and another stimulating activity on the other days?

🐶 Should I change his feed, or his feeding schedule (always make dietary changes gradually).

🐶 Should he have more interaction with people and dogs, or less? 

🐶 What new thing can I teach him, to liven up our training sessions? 

🐶 How much deep sleep is he having? (If less than 17 hours deep sleep a day, you need to make changes!)

Our dogs are in our hands. We owe it to them to make their lives the best they can be.

Find out what works for you and YOUR dog!

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Easy dogs vs reactive dogs

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You read a lot about reactive dogs these days.

“But my dog isn’t reactive!” you cry.

“My dog is friendly and easygoing!”

That’s wonderful - and I can tell you that many owners of reactive - shy, anxious, fearful, “aggressive” - dogs envy you!

But do spare a thought for them.

Their dog isn’t trying to be difficult - more often than not, he’s simply afraid. And keeping the thing he fears away from him is all he feels he can do (assuming he’s on-lead and can’t bolt).

As the saying goes, “Their dog is not giving them a hard time, he’s having a hard time.”

Keep in mind that this dog may be wonderful at home, where he feels safe, and is most likely much loved. The owner will probably feel very protective towards him.

A nasty experience

Recently I saw a dog approaching that I knew was going to bark at mine. So I moved my super-sensitive reactive dog off the footpath ten yards into the plough. Yes, her dog did kick off, and mine went ballistic in response!

So did she hurry by?

Not a bit of it!

She decided to stand on the path and harangue me - “Your dog’s this .. your dog’s that ..” she screamed, and as I turned and moved away up the path, she actually followed me, still screaming.

Madness, you’d think?

Perhaps she was trying to cover up the fact that it was her dog that started it!

This is no time for abuse, or withering looks. Both the reactive dog and his handler are having a hard enough time already.

They already feel bad, without someone else loading shame on them.

So what can you do to help these dogs?

Having had no experience of managing a reactive dog, you probably don’t know how best to deal with the situation when you come across one.

So here’s a quick tip for you.

If you are approaching a dog - any dog - who is on lead, put your dog on lead too.

This levels the playing field, and shows the worried owner that you’re willing to help.

If left loose, your friendly dog may bowl up to this reactive dog, all waving tail and lolling tongue, and give him the fright of his life!

This isn’t a pleasant experience for your dog either, when his friendly advances are met with teeth, ferocious barking, and leaping around.

What else can you do?

If you can change your route, cross the road, or move over to another part of the field, this is really helpful. You will be rewarded with a beaming smile from a relieved handler.

Sometimes this isn’t possible, like if you’re on a footpath with hedges either side. While the reactive dog owner will do their best to get their dog off the path and stand between them and you, it can be difficult to avoid passing.

Pass as quickly as possible, keeping your dog on the far side of you.

 

Stopping to talk, commiserate, stare at the frightened dog, perhaps stop your dog to tell him not to bark - this all lengthens the time the reactive dog feels at risk.

Remember, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, this dog is not nasty - he’s just afraid!

So speed past, with just a quick hello as you whoosh by.

It’s not that the other owner is unfriendly, or doesn’t want to talk to anyone … it’s just that they can’t! Their whole focus is on keeping their dog calm.

It’s no fun hanging on to the lead with a bucking bronco swinging about on the end of it, snarling and barking - while trying to stay upright!

By keeping your dog - however delightful and friendly! - out of their way, you are genuinely helping them.

I’m sure you are not like the person in the story above. You wouldn’t be here at Brilliant Family Dog reading this if you were.

By the way, if the other dog is muzzled, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s dangerous - there are a lot of reasons for muzzling a dog. But the muzzle means that this is actually a safer dog - as all his weaponry is behind a grille!

Dogs … and life

It’s true about everything in life - we need to keep an open mind, learn continually, and see things from the other chap’s point of view.

How many tussles, battles, even wars, would not happen if we could just follow that?

Meanwhile, for a bit of help in perfecting your own, easy, dog, watch our free Workshop here!

 
 
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Dogs are more resilient than we may think!

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A friend had to rush her 7-year-old agility dog to the emergency vet recently. He had to stay in for loads of tests (I guess they’re insured!) and the vet was very glum about his prognosis.

Talking informally to a vet she does agility with, however, gave a very different story. That vet, giving a private opinion, reckoned her dog would be up and working again in no time.

And indeed he’s back home after a few days and the owner’s having difficulty keeping him quiet!

Vets are naturally gloomy, on the whole. The younger the vet, I find, the gloomier. Older, more experienced, vets have more actual history to draw on. 

This is partly because vets see a lot of sick dogs.

And it’s partly to do with their insurance and litigation fears.

But they do see the worst cases, with the worst outcomes.

Lacy had a stroke

My Lacy, who is now 15, had her third or fourth (I forget) stroke a few months ago. She could barely totter, head all crooked.

We didn’t trouble the vet.

10 days later she was trotting ahead of me on walks. And a few days after that she was able to do the stairs unsupervised. 

Dogs have their own agenda. 

They don’t worry ahead to how their life may change. 

They just know they want to get from here to over there, and they get on with it. 

Naturally we have to defer to our vet’s knowledge. If you ask their advice you should listen!

But take their gloomiest predictions with a pinch of salt.

Let nature decide.

And enjoy your dog while you can. 

Are you building dog memories for your children?

I was thinking about Simon recently. Don’t know what brought it to mind particularly, but there he was, in my mind. Clear as day.

Simon was my first dog.The same age as me. So when he died aged 11 I was shattered.

I wrote a long essay for a national competition, and so full of feeling was it that I got shortlisted and had to read my essay out to the whole school. 

Writing his story did help me mend, though.

Childhood plus a dog!

What could be better than having a mate to accompany me on all my wanderings? Back in those days, child abduction was not in the front of everyone’s mind, so I had the freedom to go where I liked. Whether on my trusty red bike or on foot, Simon was always there.

Now I look back, it’s a great life for a dog - spending his time loafing about with unpredictable and always fascinating children! My brother and our friends would be with us too. 

Poor Simon had to sit in the back of my brother’s home-made go-kart and hurtle down our hill! I don’t remember him trying to escape, and he always enjoyed car rides, with his spaniel ears straight out behind him in the wind, so I’m guessing (hoping!) he enjoyed it..

Is this what you have for your kids?

So the question is, do you provide this companionship for your children? Do they have the joy of wandering, protected, with their comrade-in-arms? Ready to take on the world as long as their friend is at their side?

I’m sure I told Simon lots of things I woudn’t even have told my friends!

And, as you read above, it was an early introduction to grief for me. It was much worse than even my grandparents dying. 

Whether that shows that I value dogs over people ;-) or simply that long-distance relationships with grandparents (mine always seemed to be very old) were not so real to me, I don’t know. 

But this I do know: this early friendship was seminal. 

 

Want a child-friendly way to teach your child how to train their dog?
Explore our free and premium courses, where you'll find simple concepts, short videos and easy-to-follow lessons that children and grown-ups can enjoy together.

 
 

 


 

 

 

 

Slow your anxious dog down!

If you have an anxious dog or puppy - one who tends to panic when out, bolts at any noise, looks as though he’s doing the firewalk as he hauls you down the road, I suggest you first have a quick read of my recent post “Connecting with your Dog”

One of the things I suggested was to incorporate stop-points, so that your dog can assess the area he’s in without being continually bombarded with new sights and sounds.

A student of mine in From Growly Dog to Confident Dog has an extremely anxious dog whose history as an East European street dog filled her with unnamed fears. Her modus operandi when out is “head down, plough along the pavement”!

So when I suggested having stop-points in one of our course coaching calls - where students can ask for individual help - her owner agreed to try it, thinking it would never work.

What happened?

She went to the green in the middle of her village, sat on the bench with a friend, enjoyed a snack, and watched the world go by. Not only did her dog tolerate this - she actually enjoyed it!

So it has now become a regular feature of their walks.

If you have such a place locally, give it a try. Your dog may surprise you!

No village green for your dog?

And here’s another thing you can try, if finding a spot like that is impossible for you and your particular dog.

One trick I use with Yannick when he’s a bit wound up (when isn’t he?!) is to walk in slow circles.

Staying in the same 10yd² area for a while, gives him time to look at it from all angles. And as we circle, he gets all the bugs out and begins to connect with me again - instead of head down, stare, charge.

I’m not expecting perfect heelwork here! I just mosey round in a circle with him on the outside, and gradually his pulling and lurching stops and he starts to walk nicely beside me - for which he can earn treats, of course.

On our local walk there are a few quiet road junctions where we can circle safely, and hop out of the way if a vehicle comes. I say “CAR” and Yannick sits beside me to allow the monster to pass.

Incidentally, this is how I managed his fear of cars - terror as a puppy - simply by giving him due warning. He chooses either to sit beside me or hop up onto the verge or bank at the side of the road. He makes the choice and feels happier about it. And a tractor or lorry is “BIG CAR”!

Have you got a bolter? A panicker? A worrier?

Could you do with some strategies and techniques to help you manage your anxious, reactive, shy, Growly Dog? Explore our free and premium courses and see how you can get in on those regular coaching calls!

What is a dog walk?

We humans think of a walk as going from A to B.

Dogs see it differently. They just find themselves in an area that has to be explored.

If you walk dogs off-lead, they’ll cover 3 to 4 times as much ground as you, often at a fair lick.

They’re sniffing everything. Following their noses.

There are so many blades of grass out there, and EACH ONE has to be investigated! It’s just like walking a toddler, only faster 😊

So even if you can’t let your dog off-lead when out, at least give them a bit of line, pause in a good spot, and let them roam.

You can sit on the grass (get ready for lots of enthusiastic cuddles when you’re down at his level!) or perch on a fence post and watch the world go by.

Who’s the walk for?

And what constitutes a walk, in the dog’s eyes?

Look at it from his point of view, instead of trying to make him see ours.

 

Brilliant Family Dog – force-free dog training with Beverley Courtney

Practical, positive dog training based on 20 years' experience helping thousands of owners and their dogs. Explore 400+ free articles, 9 books and 6 online courses covering puppies, everyday training, recall, lead walking, and reactive and anxious dogs.

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