Is there hope for my growly dog?

People sometimes approach me for help when they’ve just about reached the end of their tether. They’ve tried this trick and that idea - usually things that their next-door neighbour suggested, or something they saw on one of the more sensational dog-training programs on tv - and their dog is getting worse.

It’s a shame they’ve let things go on for so long, as just like us and our piano lessons - practice makes perfect! The more your dog is allowed to do the thing you don’t like, the more he’ll do it.

But I’m usually able to cheer them up and show them that there is hope for their dog! I have never yet come across a fearful, anxious, reactive, growly (choose your name) dog that does not improve with force-free training.

And usually the change is dramatic.

People find that not only is there light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel itself is much shorter than they thought.

Once they understand why their dog is acting as she is, that she’s not all bad but that she just has difficulties in some areas of her life, and that what they do can have an enormous impact on their dog’s confidence, they happily launch into the training offered.

They start seeing results immediately. Suddenly they’re able to rejoin the human race! They can take their dog on outings, perhaps for the first time ever; they can enjoy picnics again; they no longer have to hide from other people and dogs like a vampire cowering from the sunlight.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

So if you are despairing of your dog’s anti-social behaviour, seek help now. Don’t wait till there’s much more to undo, when your dog’s confidence may be at rock-bottom. There’s no time like the present, and - as long as you’re working with an experienced, qualified, force-free trainer - you will get results.

If the problem is reactivity to strangers or other dogs, a Certified Behavior Adjustment Training Instructor is what you want. There may not be one in your area, but many will work remotely, using video and Skype for their sessions.

While anyone can call themselves a dog trainer (and then appear on tv spouting dangerous advice), the true professional trainer or behaviourist has spent years, and lots of money, on studying and qualifying in their chosen field. They will belong to an organisation which has a clear code of practice to adhere to, and they will be continually studying, learning, and growing their knowledge and understanding. Many professionals who work with reactive or growly dogs have learned because of having a growly dog of their own - so they are very sympathetic. No-one will look down their nose at you and your dog!

Be ready to put in plenty of work yourself. The trainer - however good - cannot wave a magic wand over your dog! It’s you who lives with your dog, so it’s you who needs to work with her. But you will get a carefully-crafted program with plenty of resources to help you succeed.

You are not alone! And just that realisation goes a long way. As one correspondent wrote to me:

“When my amazing, cuddly, lovable dog starting acting very reactive on the leash, I felt totally alone! I would watch other people walk their dogs calmly down the street, passing people, kids on bikes, other dogs, and I was so jealous of them. Everything you write about describes my dog perfectly and it is so nice to know that a) There are many other people dealing with this, and b) There is hope!”

Your dog’s behaviour may mystify you, but there is help out there. Your first stop? Get our free email course for Growly Dogs. 

And for an in-depth, guided online course with masses of support, start with this free Masterclass

Resources:

Free 4-part Growly Dog e-course

CBATI Directory

Pet Professional Guild

Association of Pet Dog Trainers UK

Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors UK

Karen Pryor Academy

Is your dog throwing up more challenges than you anticipated? Watch our free Masterclass and find how to change things fast!

 

I’d like to watch animals on tv in peace!

Many dogs don’t seem to “see” the tv at all. It’s just noisy wallpaper to them, and not worth a glance - even when there’s a screech, a bang, shouting, an explosion … They totally ignore it.

But there are some who enjoy watching it, will cock their ears to study the images, and look and listen calmly.

And then! There are those who go ballistic when an animal, a fish, a bird, an insect - anything other than a human - ventures onto the screen. They may hurl themselves - with a cascade of barking - at the television, now covered in snuffles and nose-smears, or they may back off barking.

So nature programmes, advertisements featuring pets, and dog programmes in particular, can be the trigger for extreme angst and noise in your dog.

Cricket the Whippet will watch for a while if the screen continually shows dogs or wolves, but she’s mildly curious, not upset.

Coco Poodle on the other hand, became a basket-case as soon as he spotted a bear, or a swan, or a cartoon cat in a cat food ad. As for lots of dogs running towards the camera, he would completely lose it. He’d plunge at the screen, genuinely frightened at this incursion of apparently real tigers or wolves into his home.

Bob says of his young dog Tedd that “if he sees another dog on the tv he runs and barks at the screen: amusing at times, but watching 'The Incredible Journey' would be a no-no.”

What to do?

Once we discovered we had this problem with Coco’s 2d-image reactivity, we actually took the opposite course, and started recording animal programmes and leaving them playing (usually silently, so that the repetition didn’t drive the rest of the household mad).

So we became intimate with the private life of the wolf pack in Yellowstone, we saw endless clear rounds and knocked poles at the Horse of the Year Show, and just lately, Crufts has been a wonderful opportunity to get lots of calm dog-watching in.

Crufts is the world’s biggest dog show, and while many watch it to see the procession of show dogs in the breed rings, my interest is in the performance dogs. If you go to Youtube and search on Crufts 2016 you’ll find hours of videos of flyball, agility, dancing dogs, gundog displays, and so on. Connect things so you can play these on your big screen and you can enjoy watching them with your dog.

I always have some treats near to hand, so as soon as the image appears on-screen - and before Coco has even drawn breath to bark - I say “Yes!” and hold a treat by the side of his muzzle. This means he has to turn away from the screen to take the treat - thus breaking his obsessional gaze - then he’s free to look again. More Yeses, more treats. And over and over again till he can watch the screen in a genuine state of calm. Aficionados will recognise this as a form of “Look at That”, a brilliant calming game devised by Leslie McDevitt of Control Unleashed fame.

Here you can see Coco on my lap, quietly watching some breed judging at Crufts.

To fix or not to fix

But if you like watching tv programmes with animals in, this is something you’ll want to fix.

Keep in mind that it’s a fear reaction, and it’s pointless trying to punish an emotional response. Use the Coco Method above to settle your dog and get him to realise that he’s quite safe and nothing is going to burst through the screen and attack us.

Quite soon your dog will point out creatures on-screen and look for his reward for staying calm and quiet. Treat away!

More tips to deal with daily annoyances here.

Is your dog throwing up more challenges than you anticipated? Watch our free Masterclass and find how to change things fast!

 

Here’s another blog that you might want to read:

Yes, you and your dog can now watch animals on tv!

Why is my dog a nightmare on lead when he's fine off lead?

This is a question that perplexes many dog-owners. Their dog is no trouble when off-lead, but he turns into a snarling hoodlum when on-lead.

There are a number of things happening here. Your dog isn’t actually a Jekyll and Hyde, rather he’s able to cope in one situation, but not in the other.

Sadly it’s often us who make the situation far, far worse! Although I know that’s the last thing we intend to happen.

So let’s have a look at what’s going on

1. Off-lead, your dog is able to come across other dogs - maybe even interact with them - without any trouble kicking off. If you watch what’s going on very carefully, you may see that your dog is displaying some excellent social skills. Because he’s not restrained on a lead, his body movement untrammelled, he can display body language appropriate to the occasion. If you video some of these passages or interactions you may see a host of calming signals being employed - perhaps by all the dogs involved.

This could include:

• soft body posture

• approaching indirectly

• looking away

• sniffing the ground

• turning his body away

• moving with loose-limbed movement and wavy tail

All those things are telling the other dog they’re no threat. When free to move away, your dog may even decide on a nose-sniff and a bum-sniff before moving on.

On the other hand, careful observation may reveal that your dog is actually anxious:

• trying to get away

• or frozen to the spot

• licking lips

• yawning

• stiff and slow in movement

• tiptoeing round the other dog

• tail tucked or stiff

He may not be as “fine” as you think!

But it’s when we get into the picture that things can really start to go wrong!

2. On-lead, things can be very different. Because you are used to your dog getting upset when he sees or meets other dogs on the road, you are highly likely to tense up as soon as you see another dog. This lead-tightening tells your dog that you’re worried and that something dangerous is coming. He goes onto full alert and starts to square up to the impending danger. On his toes and ready to defend himself, he’s likely to start barking, bouncing, and lunging at the oncoming dog, in an effort to scare it away. Because the lead is tight, he’s unable to employ any of his natural body language skills and issue calming signals to the other dog.

And because these dogs are being forced to walk straight towards each other, with no chance to pause, look away, sniff the ground - or any of those other signals that work so well when left to their own devices - they become helpless to improve the situation.

What to do?

Now, if your dog is unpredictable and just as likely to start trouble off and on-lead, this doesn’t apply to you! This is for those whose dog has had only good interactions with others when off-lead.

1. Acknowledge that your dog can handle things well when you don’t try to influence proceedings.

2. Stop interfering!

How to stop interfering? Look back at what happens when you see the other dog coming. It’s probably you who tenses up first, winds the lead round your fist, pulls your dog in close, starts barking commands at him. So it’s you that needs to change things.

For your dog to change, YOU need to change.

If you can ensure that whenever you see a dog coming, the first thing you do is to relax your hands, keep the lead slack, and breathe normally - you may be very surprised at how calmly your dog behaves!

Stop it before it starts

I have often seen a barking and lunging incident snuffed out before it began - simply by the owner relaxing their hands on the lead and not reacting.

To begin with, this may take a superhuman effort on your part! It’s hard to change habits we’ve developed - especially if we don’t even know we have them!

But if you can rehearse the scene in your mind - perhaps take one which happened to you today or yesterday, and run through it in your mind - you can see exactly where you need to change something you’re doing.

Once you’ve cracked this, and you know exactly what to do and when, you’ll develop a new habit. And happily, good habits are also hard to break!

Dog Body Language? Whatever is this?

Hopefully this has piqued your interest in finding out more about how your dog communicates. I’ll come back with some more on this in a while. For now, become a student of your dog: each little twitch, blink, or sniff means something. And for more learning, get our free Growly Dog e-course here.

He’s telling us! It’s up to us to learn how to interpret what he’s saying, with empathy, and without pre-conceptions.

Is your dog throwing up more challenges than you anticipated? Watch our free Masterclass and find how to change things fast!

 

Keep your distance! Help for fearful dogs

Imagine you’re afraid of spiders. Or mice. Would you be happy to see a spider or a mouse sitting on the table in front of you, or would you feel easier if said spider or mouse were more like fifty feet away?

Your dog is exactly the same!

He’ll feel much more relaxed when he’s a comfortable distance away from something that frightens him. And for dogs who bark ferociously at strange dogs they see on walks, the further that dog is from him, the easier it will be for him to stay calm and not react as if the ravening hordes were descending on him.

It’s a very simple first step to making your poor, frightened, anxious, stressed-out, dog feel happier about the world he has to live in. You may think your dog is aggressive, but the chances are he’s actually just afraid.

Distance is not the total solution to dog reactivity, of course. But just see what a difference this one step made to Chris and her family:

“My husband who walks the dogs has taken on board your tips and is amazed at the change in her. He comes home saying, ‘We passed five dogs and she didn't bark once!’“

When you’ve got this working, and your dog knows you’ll always keep your distance from other dogs, and never make him go right up to them (this perhaps in the mistaken belief that all dogs love to play), life will suddenly become much easier.

How distant is this distance?

This really will vary from dog to dog, and from place to place. There are other things coming into play that will influence your dog’s reactions too, like when he last ate, when he last felt the need to bark at another dog, upsets in the home, fireworks, a change in routine, and so on.

So you have to find out what distance will work for your dog. This could be 20 yards, though it’s more likely to be 50 or 100 yards. Observe him and see when he’s sufficiently relaxed to be able to look away from the other dog, and to respond to you. Now you’ve found the distance to aim for.

Next time he may manage to be a bit closer to another dog (say, 5 yards closer), or he may need to be further away still!

Keep in mind that if your dog is on edge and hating every moment of your walks together, then there’s no need to keep doing them.

Really!

There is no law that says your dog must run the gauntlet of his fears on a daily basis. How would you feel if you had to confront all those spiders and mice at close quarters every time you stepped out of the door?

For exercise, you’ll do better having a fast fun game of fetch or chase in the garden. If you don’t have a garden, then drive to a suitably open space - as dog-free as possible - and enjoy your game there.

And for lots more help with your barky, growly, dog - get our free e-course to turn things round without force, shouting, or yanking the lead!

Peace and calm are on their way to you.

Is your dog throwing up more challenges than you anticipated? Watch our free Masterclass and find how to change things fast!