English version of our biweekly column: Silence might not be golden No one likes their dog to show their teeth and growl. Many think this is a sign of aggression or dominant behaviour so try to stop them doing it. However, if I were to say showing teeth and growling are actually good things you may find it unbelievable at first, but if you think about it, would you prefer knowing a dog is unhappy so you can be alert, or that a dog bites out of the blue? Im sure it would be the former. Growling is just a communication signal that dogs use to express their feelings. If they feel threatened by a situation, person, dog or thing in front of him, they use growling to warn whatever or whoever it is that is worrying them to stay away. If dog parents can analyse the situation quickly enough to lengthen the distance between their dog and that stimulus, or reduce the intensity of the stimulus, the dog will soon calm down. However, if you try to punish your dog by yelling, leash jerking or smacking, you may succeed in stopping the behaviour momentarily but without dealing with the reason for his uneasiness or fear. If things continue this way, what will the dog learn? One is That thing is really horrible! Every time I see it, I get shouted at or hurt by my parents. I hate it!. You will find the situation around that object or person gets worse by association, and your dogs reaction to it will escalate and become even more vigorous than before. Another outcome is that your dog will learn not to make any warning signals to communicate. He/she may look calm and remain quiet, but emotions like frustration or anger will accumulate. Once over the threshold, he/she will bite directly. Dogs that remain silent like that are actually unpredictable and dangerous. Suppressing any unwanted behaviour does not help to solve the problem. It can only be permanently changed by understanding your dogs emotion and dealing with it using positive training methods. Find the right trainer to help if you cant deal with such issues on your own.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 09:12:08 +0000
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