Dog Training Guides

 

 

Using Caution When Dealing With Fighting Problems

 

What is in the dog's mind when it attacks every dog it meets or just has one enemy around the corner?  Most of it is show of strength, very often a cowardly show of strength aimed at other people's toy dogs who can't answer a bully back.  Face that same bully with a big dog likely to answer back and it will disappear into the distance, for the dog knows who will be boss even in its own race, and if it senses superiority of physique or brain, it will automatically be subservient.

 

That is why young dogs lie on their backs, all four feet in the air, when they meet an older or stronger dog; they know who is boss and are showing the other dog so by exposing the tummy to an enemy.  That is why dog owners should know that this trick is not a nice one really and should be checked at an early age, for it is purely one of a weak animal giving in to one stronger in mind and usually an enemy at that.

 

Few owners would like to think their dogs look upon them as enemies, but that is the case.  When a dog no longer looks upon you as a potential enemy it stops this lying on its back as protection, although many dogs in later life do it because their owners have scratched their chests, which they like, and they hope for it again.  But primarily it belongs to the defense mechanism of the dog tribe.  The mind of a dog that fights always has at the back of it the wish to be the boss of the tribe, and he fights other male dogs who are sexually mature to make sure there is no risk of his being questioned as "lord of all he surveys."  Muzzle that dog and let him loose with the dog he has previously fought and nine times out of ten he will realize he is at a disadvantage and show no signs of aggression.

 

That is why dogs with fighting problems should be muzzled and then freed with trained dogs or non-fighters.  They then learn to enjoy themselves in a community and the wish to fight goes away.  Often, having muzzled, introduced and trained them for a short time together, formerly bad fighters are lying side by side without muzzles after a few minutes.

 

Your own personality needs to be strong to deal with fighters, because fighters are usually adult dogs.  Few puppies fight, few females fight; therefore your mind must be stronger than that of the potential fighter so that you are the boss, not either of the dogs.  If the dog is sex-mad you can do nothing but neuter it.  Muzzling is only a stopgap, not a cure.  Owners who won't have their fighting dogs neutered should always have them muzzled in public places.  

 

 

Choosing Dog Training Methods

 

Before choosing a particular training method, carefully examine the technique to ensure that it will communicate proper associations.  Certain methods may not communicate what you intend.  A dog-aggressive Akita was enrolled in a training program that his owner thought was reputable.  The trainer convinced the owner that the only way to break the Akita of aggression toward other dogs was to let a more dominant dog put him in his place.  The trainer's dog displayed dominance toward other dogs, so she placed him in a room with the Akita and left the two dogs to work things out.  When the trainer heard a window crashing, she opened the door to find that her dog was injured, and the Akita had been richly rewarded for his aggressive behavior with a nice victory under his collar.

 

If this method does not make sense to you, it probably won't make sense to the dog, either.  One trainer sent around a flyer giving free advice to the general public on how to stop dogs from digging.  The trainer suggested filling the newly dug hole with water and taking the dog over to the hole by the scruff of the neck to dunk his head in the water filled-hole.  The next sentence on this flyer cautioned the owner that the dunking probably would not stop the dog from digging; instead, forcing the dog down to the water by the scruff of the neck was a demonstration of dominance, a root cure-all for problem behavior.  The trainer thought through the method far enough to figure out that the water would have no effect on future digging.  Unfortunately, he did not explain that the dog would learn to mistrust his owner for trying to drown him.  Shortly after this flyer was distributed, another trainer was indicted for animal abuse for employing this very correction technique.

 

Occasionally, even thinking through a method does not result in a clear understanding of how it works.  One day a fellow drove up to class in a pickup with his dog in the back.  The dog trainer explained to him that it was very dangerous to have the dog in the back of an open pickup.  He went through the normal lecture on how the dog's nose and eyes could be damaged from debris in the air, the danger of the dog being thrown out of the truck in an accident, etc.  The fellow proudly said, "I fixed the dog from jumping out of the truck.  He was jumping out and I would throw him back in.  We did this for five or six times when I finally got really mad and threw him in the truck for the seventh time and stuffed a piece of horse manure in his mouth for good measure.  After that the dog never jumped out again, and the next time he does something bad, I am going to use that manure trick again."

 

It was really hard to determine if the dog stopped jumping out of the truck because he got tired of being thrown back in, or if he was grateful for the gourmet horse manure treat.  If you are not sure about exactly how or why a method works, it is probably best to avoid the technique altogether. Even the most popular methods use techniques that may not be suited for every breed or temperament of dog.  A trainer who evaluates each method based on the efficacy of the associations and motivators will be better equipped to match the appropriate obedience method with the dog's individual temperament.

 

 Consistency & Persistence Pays Off When Training Your Dog

If the rules change from day to day, the dog becomes confused.  He needs to know how to consistently earn reward and avoid punishment or he will give up responding.  The good trainer is consistent and always uses the same command for the same behavior.  Most dog owners teach the dog that the command "down" means to be in a prone position.  Unfortunately, many dog owners use the same command to mean, lie down, remove thyself from the couch or bed, or stop jumping on people.  When a command has many different meanings, the word ceases to have an important message.

 

Give each behavior its own command.  The command "off" can be used to mean paws on the floor, and "down" may remain to define the prone position.  After you decide on consistent commands, the next step is to be persistent in using them.  Dogs are naturally good at persistent behavior, and even better if rewarded for it. 

 

Many a dog owner has given up trying to correct the dog that barks all day or jumps on people.  Dog owners drop out of obedience classes all the time because they are worn down by their dogs' seemingly persistent behaviors, and they give up trying to teach their dogs new behaviors.  The key is that the owners gave up, and the dogs learned that persistence pays off.  When an owner gives in, the dog's persistent behavior is strengthened and reinforced.  Any determined dog owner can wear the dog down.  Therefore, it is extremely important that you be more persistent than the dog about continuing the training process until the dog performs the desired behavior.

 

The dog must learn that the energy he spends engaging in undesirable behavior is not worth the effort, because you will persist.  If you correct him for jumping up the first four times and don't correct him for the fifth jump up you simply teach him to jump up five times for the payoff.  Similarly, if you correct the dog for barking at the moon sometimes and not at other times, you teach him that sometimes barking is acceptable and sometimes it is not.  The dog will continue to bark to determine when barking is acceptable and when it is not acceptable. 

 

Consequently, correcting barking sometimes actually encourages even more barking.  If you don't correct the dog for barking in the backyard because you are not at home, he will learn that barking is acceptable when you're away.  If you sneak out of the house so as not to cue him that it is acceptable to bark, he only needs to bark twice with no correction to figure out that you are not at home.  A behavior will be extinguished or changed only if you persist in correcting the dog every time he misbehaves.

 

 Dealing With Dogs That Hate Either Men or Women

Hating men or women is the most peculiar form of instability in dogs.  They seem to be sweet and happy with one sex and nervous or vicious with the other.  What form of neurosis causes this we don't know.  What can an owner do to make a dog with this nature livable?

 

First, examine the owner's mind.  Has he or she ever had a grudge against the opposite sex?  Did an overpowering schoolteacher make the young boy's or girl's life a misery?  Does he or she boast that they only get along with men or women?  Alsatians are peculiar in this way and will hate men or women instinctively if thought transference comes from an owner with a similar dislike.  Many women like big guard dogs, and the big guard dog thrives in this state of affairs and easily develops a dislike of the sex the owner wishes to dominate.

 

Corgis do the same. This has been particularly noted in these two breeds, partly because they are highly intelligent breeds and telepathy is very marked and partly because the shepherding instinct is uppermost and they have a natural suspicion of strangers.  Correct them firmly when young and one gets no further trouble.  Accept their suspicious natures, and you will have dogs that hate men or women, usually women.

 

Now how do we live with such dogs?  The world being what it is, we can't mix with only one sex.  Even husbands or wives are a necessity, and it is often against the one or the other that the particular hate is centered.  I think the solution is either to send the dog to be boarded or trained by a person of the sex it hates, or else get friends of that sex to feed it or take it for walks.  If it shows any signs of being vicious, muzzle it and send it out for a long walk with the person it dislikes.  Greet joyously that person when he or she returns and praise the dog.  Make the person pat the dog and praise it before saying goodbye and, if possible, give it its food.

 

Of course there aren't many good friends who will do this, but I think that if an advertisement was put in the local newspaper, some dog lover would respond.  It might even help to employ a "dog sitter" of the hated sex when you go out so that when you are out, the only comfort the dog would get would be from the sex it dislikes. 

 

Only by being made to tolerate people will it respond.  Obviously, if a female owner has been jilted and hates all men, her dog will naturally pick up this feeling when the owner is talking to a man.  In many cases, all these faults in dogs can be traced to some minor mental disturbance of the owner, although the owner may be unaware of it.

 

Dog Aggression Toward Its Owners

 

A dog that growls at and/or bites its owner does so for some reason, even if the behavior appears "unreasonable" to the owner.  A complete medical examination, including tests for hormonal balance, neurophysiologic function and allergies, may reveal the underlying cause.

 

This has been especially helpful in dogs that have swings in mood.  When growling or biting has erupted as a consequence of scolding or punishment for such behavior as chewing, jumping, general unruliness, or overprotection of food, these problems must be treated at the same time the program to correct aggression is initiated.  

 

The Owner's Actions Owners must understand that their dog growls or bites at them as a result of defensive feelings.  Even the dog that growls when ordered off the couch is reacting defensively, as it feels its dominance status has been threatened.  If scolding and punishment provoke aggression, the dog is reacting to a perceived threat to its physical safety.  In either of these situations, the owner's threatening behaviour is producing negative results.

 

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