Owners differ hugely in their perception of problem behaviours. Identify three which are commonly described as being a problem, and briefly describe how some of these views may be due to the owner’s misconception of dog behaviour.
Introduction
The following essay discusses three perceived ‘problem behaviours’ - jumping up, lying on furniture and ‘Small Dog Syndrome’.
Jumping up
One of the popular misconceptions that owners have when their dogs jump up at them, or their visitors, is that the dog is demonstrating and learning dominance. By rising up onto his back legs and assuming an upright body position, he is apparently making his body appear larger as he lunges forward.
Quite the contrary. When dogs assume a dominant body position, they are “stiff-legged, (with) upright posture or slow, stiff-legged movement forward”. Therefore, standing on his back legs isn’t characteristic of dominant dog behaviour.
So what is a dog trying to tell us when he jumps up? Jumping up is part of a greeting ritual for dogs, which also includes the running around excitedly, and licking and sniffing each other. It harks back from a dog’s wolf ancestry where wolf pups greeted adult wolves by jumping up to lick the corners of the adults’ mouths, causing the adults to regurgitate food. Although the regurgitation aspect of the greeting ritual has been bred out of domestic dogs (thank goodness!), the mouth-licking part of it remains. Therefore, because a human’s face is elevated, a dog will jump up to try and reach it. And larger dogs usually hit the target!
A dog will jump up because it has not been trained not to. Dog owners who do not wish their dogs to greet them by jumping up should train the dog to remain on ‘all-fours’ before any greeting is reciprocated.
Lying on furniture
I admit it - I sleep with my dog. And... shock, horror... I allow my dog on the couch! Lying on the furniture is another misconception that some people have where they suggest that a dog is trying to dominate, or increase his ranking in the pack by elevating his position in relation to the pack leader.
A dog will take up residence on furniture because it is many times more comfortable than the cold, hard floor. It’s that simple. Because he is a social animal, he is also comforted by the owners’ smells and touch.
He will also continue to use the furniture as his resting place as long as he can get away with it. It is only when he starts to guard his position on the bed or couch that this can develop into a resource guarding problem.
From my point of view, lying on the furniture is fine, as long as the dog knows that when he is asked to get off, he does so. This can only be successfully accomplished via appropriate training.
Small Dog Syndrome (SDS)
I think I am more aware of what I call ‘small dog syndrome’ due to the fact that it always seems manifest itself whenever my large breed dog and I run into small dogs and their owners during our walks. SDS occurs when owners of small dogs misinterpret the behaviour their dog is exhibiting. Instead of territorial dominance or playful retreat, they assume the dog is demonstrating animosity or fear. This is described in the examples below:
SDS No. 1 - “He doesn’t like big dogs” (on lead)
When out for a walk around the local neighbourhood, Tabasco and I sometimes come across other owners with small dogs who do not wish to walk past us on the same side of the street. They will purposefully cross over to the other side to avoid coming into our close vicinity. Tabasco will usually stare blankly at the small dog who has started barking and growling at him. The other owner will shrug and say “Sorry, but he doesn’t like big dogs”, usually while struggling to maintain a tight grip on an ever more tense lead.
I wonder if the small dog actually has any animosity towards my large dog at all? It is possible that it is in fact the owner who has a ‘fear’ of larger dogs because they are so much bigger than their ‘handbag hound’. The owner may have had a bad experience with a larger dog and therefore his fear is transferred via his demeanour (a tense stance and tension on the lead) to the small dog.
I could perhaps be persuaded otherwise if the small dog exhibited a fearful body posture - but they invariably don’t.
I would instead suggest that the small dog is putting on a display of territorial dominance. Small dogs, especially terriers, are more prone to bark than other breeds. This is because they generally have higher levels of excitability and aggressiveness, not because they are scared, or do not like larger dogs.(1)
SDS No. 2 - “He’s scared of big dogs” (off lead)
When Tabasco and I are out for a gallop in the park, it is wonderful to see him playing with other dogs. They have great fun. Tabasco will play with anyone - and that includes dogs who are a ¼ of his size. At the end of the day a ‘dog is a dog’ to them. Size doesn’t really come into it.
As with his larger play-pals, the same greeting and play rituals take place - both dogs will catch sight or smell of each other from a distance, and will then stand rigid or crouch down, before moving quickly towards each other. The smaller dog will then probably start to run away. But before the greeting/play ritual can be fully played out, it’s at this point that the small dog’s owner decides that her dog is ‘scared of big dogs’. What does she do next? That’s it - she picks the small dog up! What does Tabasco do? He jumps up, of course! Now not only is the small dog presumed to be scared, but Tabasco, according to the other owner, is now attacking both of them! Goodness me, what a mess.
Unfortunately, this dog owner has misinterpreted the greeting/play rituals which all dogs perform. In some instances, one dog may initially retreat when first approached by another. This is not an indication of fear, it’s part of the ‘chase me’ aspect of dog play. If given time, the dogs will then stop and sniff each other. Then, one may display a submissive body posture, one may wander away disinterested, or both of them may start a full blown game of rough and tumble.
The dog owner compounded the situation by picking her dog up. The only way Tabasco was then able to adequately sniff the small dog was by jumping up to reach him. If the owner pushes Tabasco away, this may cause him to jump up even more as a dog can interpret touch as a reward. Furthermore, the small dog is also unable to experience greeting/playing with larger dogs because her owner doesn’t let her do so. Therefore, the dog will never learn to communicate with larger dogs, thus making a bad situation worse.
Conclusion
As dog-owning humans we have a natural tendency to ‘humanise’ dog behaviour. I often ask Tabasco “Why are you looking so sad?”. As if expecting a reply from him isn’t bad enough, I’m projecting an emotion onto him simply because his natural facial expression appears to look like sadness in human terms. It’s not surprising then that many other dog owners misinterpret their pet’s natural behaviours and instincts as problem behaviour. They are reading their dog’s actions and reactions in human terms, instead of understanding some of the basics of dog communication. Maybe the dogs should be training us?!
Works Cited
(1) The Dog’s Mind, ch.12, p.179-180 (Fogel, Bruce 1990)
Bibliography
Dominance: Fact or Fiction? (Eaton, Barry 2008)
How To Speak Dog (Coren, Stanley 2005)
Take The Lead (Watson, Heather 1998)
The Culture Clash (Donaldson, Jean 2005)
The Dog’s Mind (Fogel, Bruce 1990)
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