Problem behaviours

Think what you have learnt about “problem behaviours”. Discuss why you think each of these problems happen, and how they might be avoided.  Discuss how you would cope with each of these problems if your own dog presented them.

Introduction
The following essay discusses two common ‘problem behaviours’ seen in dogs - food guarding and growling/lunging at an approaching dog.  The possible origin of the problem is identified along with how the problem might be avoided, and coped with if presented.

Food guarding
Some dogs are more prone to object or resource guarding (food, toy, position) than others.  There are a number of reasons why this may occur - early dominance aggression and  competition, routine unchecked behaviour, and lack of training.

Early dominance aggression and competition - very young puppies are constantly in competition with each other for their mother’s milk, and as they grow, the strongest and more dominant individuals will be first in line for the best teat.  During the early stages of the  socialisation period, young puppies may also exhibit signs of dominance aggression which can ultimately lead to object guarding.

Routine unchecked behaviour - if left by themselves, some dogs will inadvertently become resource guarders because their routine (whether it be eating alone, or sleeping on the same chair every day) has never been disrupted and remains unchecked.

Lack of training - some dogs resource guard because they have not been trained not to.  In addition to teaching a dog new behaviour, it is just as important to help him to ‘unlearn’ old behaviour.

Avoiding food guarding
One of the underlying lessons throughout this course has been “Catch It Early”.  We have learnt that puppies are like sponges and can absorb training and direction very quickly.  Therefore, one of the best ways to avoid food guarding is to stop it before it even starts.

Although it may not be possible to prevent food guarding while still with the litter, when a puppy relocates to his new human home, the only perceived competition he will have for food will be from the humans in the household.  Try to ensure you are always in the same room as the puppy when it is his meal time.  He should get used to you being there reasonably quickly, as puppies will usually have up to four small meals per day when they are very young.  

It is also useful hand feed a puppy with some of his usual kibble at the start of a meal, and then add the rest of his meal to the bowl.  And you can also start to remove his bowl while he is eating.

A puppy should be trained early on to wait for his food before rushing towards it.  If an eager eater already has his chops into his dinner, he may not tolerate it being removed in mid munch.  Therefore, teaching him to ‘sit’ and ‘wait’ before given the ‘OK’ to go ahead with dinner serves not only to teach him manners under extreme circumstances (he is starving to death after all!), but it also reinforces a calm state of mind.

Coping with a food guarder
My dog Tabasco displayed signs of food guarding - but only the once.  When he was about 12 weeks old, I gave him a juicy bone to chew.  I decided it was a good time to start ‘food guarding’ training, and went to remove then bone while he was chewing it.  He instantly  turned into the Curly Coat from hell - bearing teeth and snarling. Although initially shocked at the rapid change in temperament, I immediately took him by the collar and deposited him in the kitchen and closed the door.  He stayed in ‘time out’ for a few minutes.  Since that time, Tabasco has never displayed further signs of food guarding.  Ostracism as a punishment was very effective in his case.

My brother has had a little less success with his Golden Retriever puppy.  Although not a food guarder, Sheila will guard toys and also her position if backed into a corner, behind a sofa, for example.  ‘Time out’ doesn’t seem to have been the right cure for her.  Matthew is instead trying the ‘object exchange’ approach, whereby Sheila is rewarded with a treat when she relinquishes the toy she is guarding.  He also plays enthusiastically with another toy at the other end of the room - within eyeshot of Sheila.  He does this in order to convey to her that the toy he is playing with is just as much fun as the one that she is currently guarding, and that it’s much better fun to be playing with him rather than by herself, behind the couch.  This is still a work in progress - until such time as she is too big to fit under the couch, of course!

Approach from another dog
Dogs may growl, lunge or run away when another dog approaches.  These are likely to be responses to either dominance or fear aggression, over-excitement, or fear of the other dog.  A dog may exhibit these behaviours for reasons of lack of socialisation, inappropriate training and amplified aggression training.

Lack of socialisation - as mentioned in previous units, socialisation is extremely important in the early stages of a dog’s mental and physical development.  An under-socialised dog will not know how to react appropriately when another dog approaches, and may growl (aggressively, with ears pointed forward, tail and hackles raised, or fearfully, with ears held close to the head and tail between his legs), or may simply run away, in fear.

Inappropriate training - if an owner does not control a dog on a lead in a relaxed and calm manner, the ‘signals’ sent down the lead to the dog may cause the dog to lunge.  An over-eager or over-excited dog who is constantly being pulled back, will continue to lunge and get more excited, boomeranging this back to the owner, who will pull the dog even harder.  Furthermore, any perceived threat the owner sees in the approaching dog may be transmitted through nervous energy or tension via the lead to their dog, causing him to start to growl or lunge aggressively.

Amplified aggression training - some dogs unfortunately have owners who will purposely train them to be aggressive when another dog approaches.

Avoiding this situation
Problem behaviour such as this can be avoided for the most part by ensuring that your dog is adequately socialised at an early age.  This includes socialisation whilst still with the breeder, as well as when they move to their new home with their owner.  Socialisation can be further ‘pumped-up’ by enrolling your puppy in a puppy socialisation class.

Outside of socialisation classes, it is good practise to introduce your puppy to as many other dogs as possible, either at the park, or whilst on a walk - either off or on lead.  It is useful to use either a retractable or long lead in these situations, as this will allow your dog to approach the other dog ‘on his terms’, but you still have ultimate control. The dogs will perform a series of ‘getting to know you’ rituals, and will then either decide to ignore each other, or play (in which case you can either recall him, or detach his lead).

A growling, lunging situation can also be avoided by simply being aware of any other dogs in your vicinity when out on a walk.  Your elevated position should allow you to spot another dog and owner before your dog does.  In this situation, you can simply turn around and walk in the opposite direction. (I wouldn’t encourage using this technique if you want prevent this behaviour - this is one way to avoid it, but your dog may be permanently without canine pals.)

Unfortunately, as this is a canine psychology course, and not a human psychology course, it is impossible for me to understand why anyone would want to train their dog to be aggressive on demand (unless of course they were trained police or armed forces dogs - but that is a different matter).  How can you avoid a dog growling or lunging aggressively?  Simple - don’t teach them how to!  Or if you do (for what ever reason), ensure they are trained to release.  My dog was on the receiving end of a vicious attack, and it was a most traumatic experience for both myself and Tabasco.

Coping with this situation
There are couple of ways I could try to cope if my dog presented this problem.  There are two things I know - 1) my dog is very strong, and 2) he loves food.  If Tabasco was desperate enough to want to reach another dog, I expect that he would be able to pull me over to do so.  Therefore, pulling back on the lead when he lunged would not be a viable action to take.  I would instead attempt to keep him in a calm state of mind, and reward him for doing so with a food treat, by trying one of the following:

Doggy ‘zen’ game - when another dog approached, I would immediately put Tabasco into a sit position, command him to ‘look at me’ and to pay attention to the sweetie in my hand which I had raised above my head. I would gradually lower my hand towards him, and reward him with the sweetie for keeping all four paws on the ground, for not jumping up and for concentrating on me.  I would continue to play the ‘zen’ game until the approaching dog moved away.  In this way, I am rewarding Tabasco for concentrating on me and ignoring the approaching dog.

Walk on by - in a similar vein, when another dog approached, I would command Tabasco to walk to heel and to ‘leave!’ (i.e. ignore) the approaching dog.  Every time Tabasco completed a ‘leave’ on cue, he would receive a food reward.

Conclusion
An owner’s lack of understanding of natural dog behaviour can sometimes be the precursor to the development of ‘problem behaviour’.  It is possible to avoid the onset of problem behaviours before they start, and this is achieved by ensuring that a young puppy is sufficiently (and correctly) trained from an early age.  This is further enhanced by adequate socialisation.


Bibliography
Dominance: Fact or fiction? (Eaton, Barry 2008)
The Culture Clash (Donaldson, Jean 2005)
The Dog’s Mind (Fogel, Bruce 1990)