The Dog Behavior Problem Solver. Teoti Anderson
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Yelling at your dog to “Come HERE!” isn’t going to mean anything to him unless you’ve trained him to come when you say those words. Shouting “Sit, sit, sit, SIT! SIT!” over and over again doesn’t teach your dog how to sit.
Dogs learn body language before they learn verbal language. This is why it’s normally easier to teach a dog hand signals than verbal signals. Dogs just understand them more quickly. This doesn’t mean you should only communicate to your dog using hand signals (although if your dog is deaf, this makes perfect sense). It just means you will need to be more patient with your dog as he learns to catch on to your verbal cues. Just saying a word doesn’t communicate what it means to your dog. You need to teach him what words mean.
Dogs don’t know automatically how you expect them to behave. You have to teach them this, too. For example, it’s normal for a dog to follow his nose. Sometimes that might mean following a nose right up on top of the kitchen counter if there’s food on it. Your dog doesn’t realize the kitchen counter is off limits unless you teach him that it is. A dog will bolt out the door, happy just to get outside. He doesn’t know he should wait at doorways unless you teach him. Puppies are notorious for putting everything in their mouths. They don’t know what’s appropriate to chew on and what’s not until you teach them.
Positive Training
You may have very clear ideas about what your dog should and shouldn’t do, but you need to communicate those expectations to your dog in terms he can understand. You can absolutely do that with positive training.
Every teacher also has to adapt to his student if he wants to communicate effectively. Can you imagine being taught how to drive by an instructor who didn’t understand or speak your language? How would you ask him questions when you were confused? How would you know if you were getting something right or wrong? Would you be nervous about driving in a city rush hour under this teacher’s guidance? It would be very frustrating, and you would learn at a really slow pace, if at all.
You can’t speak dog. But you can learn how to understand your dog better so you can communicate with him more effectively. This will make you a better trainer and give you a better chance of teaching your dog what standards of behavior you expect from him.
This may sound like having a dog involves a lot of training. It does! If you want your dog to be a good family companion, training is important. And for a dog who has problem behaviors, training is critical. Positive training can help resolve them.
You do not have to use physical punishment to get your dog to learn.
Lack of Proper Socialization
During puppyhood, from birth to anywhere between 12 and 16 weeks, puppies form their view of the world. The experiences they have during this time will impact on them for a lifetime. The late Dr. R. K. Anderson, DVM, Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Medicine and Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, was a strong proponent of early puppy education. He stated “breeders, new puppy owners, veterinarians, trainers and behaviorists have a responsibility to assist in providing these learning/socialization experiences with other puppies/dogs, with children/adults and with various environmental situations during this optimal period from birth to 16 weeks. Many veterinarians are making this early socialization and learning program part of a total wellness plan for breeders and new owners of puppies during the first 16 weeks of a puppy’s life—the first 7−8 weeks with the breeder and the next 8 weeks with the new owners. This socialization program should enroll puppies from 8 to 12 weeks of age as a key part of any preventive medicine program to improve the bond between pets and their people and keep dogs as valued members of the family for 12 to 18 years.”
What if you didn’t get your dog as a puppy, so you have no idea what happened during his critical socialization period? Or what if you didn’t realize how important the critical socialization period was, and you missed this window of opportunity? A lack of proper socialization can cause problem behaviors.
For example, a puppy who doesn’t have positive experiences with children during his socialization period may be fearful of children when he meets them as an adult dog. He may growl or snap at them because he is afraid of them. A puppy who never leaves the house or only goes out to visit the veterinarian’s office may be fearful as an adult of strange environments. A puppy who isn’t properly socialized with other dogs may growl and lunge on leash at them as an adolescent dog. Puppyhood is a vital formative time. If your dog didn’t get the benefit of proper socialization, it could be the prime reason for the problems you’re seeing now.
Puppy Options: The Power of Proper Socializationa
Socialization is not just making sure your puppy has a lot of different experiences. It is ensuring that your puppy has a lot of different, positive experiences. If he meets people who scare him, or things happen to him that he perceives as frightening, he could be fearful of similar people and situations as an adult.
Also note that socialization doesn’t just stop at 16 weeks. Even though the critical socialization window closes at about that time, if you stop socializing your puppy altogether he may have difficulty retaining the benefits into adulthood. Socialization is a continuing process, especially with some dogs who are prone to being fearful or shy.
It is true that some dogs have lousy childhoods and still end up saints. They are the lucky ones! The great debate over nature versus nurture is never ending; no one really knows why some dogs with rough starts thrive while others falter. Your best bet for the future of your puppy is to make the most of the socialization period while you can to best influence his adulthood.
An adult dog will be more likely to enjoy children if positively introduced to them as a puppy.
Owner Miscommunication
Many folks think they are good communicators. It’s often the case, however, that while your directions would be clear to another person, they’re easily misunderstood by your dog.
For example, Roman the Bull Terrier loves to jump on his owner, Dan. Dan yells at Roman when he does this and pushes him off. Dan thinks he’s being very clear: “Roman, don’t jump on me!” Roman keeps jumping up, though. Why doesn’t he understand what Dan wants?
One possible reason is that Roman likes attention, even if Dan is yelling. Roman also loves it when Dan pushes him. It’s like enthusiastic petting to him. It’s fun! So Roman bounces off Dan, thinking it’s a great game. Dan meant to teach his dog not to jump up. What he actually taught Roman was to jump up more often. Bounce! Bounce! Bounce! What started as a minor behavioral problem is now a major one.
Some people also tend to mix and match words, intending them to have the same meaning. This can be very confusing to a dog. If you say, “Get down!” a couple of times when your dog jumps up on you but “Off!” at other times, this is not consistent communication. Remember, dogs don’t understand verbal language unless you teach them. Have you taught him that both “Get down” and “Off” mean the same thing? What if you then also expect him to lie down when you say “Down?” What’s the difference to your dog between “Down” and “Get Down”? Are you confused yet? So is your dog!
Inconsistent Direction
Inconsistent behavior occurs when there is inconsistent direction. For example, you have a dog who doesn’t come to anyone consistently when he is called. It turns out that when you want your dog to come to you, you say, “Come here!” Your spouse uses “Come!” Your oldest son uses “Get over here,” and your daughter uses “C’mere!” To top it off, every time family members want your dog to do this one action, they use a different term for it. This is very confusing for people, let alone a dog. It results in a dog who doesn’t come consistently when he’s called because he’s called differently each time.
If you or your family are using inconsistent cues, your dog’s problem behaviors may be due to confusion. At a minimum, inconsistent communication