Q&A with ‘The Paw Man’ (657) – A Shaky Start In Life Priority Paid Answer Celia Bates Hi, I would like to ask a question if I may? Did I read once you could pay for a personal or quicker reply? If so could you please send details? Thanks. Paw Man Hi Selena, yes you can pay AUD$25- for a priority paid answer. That gets you an answer within 24-48 hours. You still get the same answer that you would have got if you waited until your questions got to the head of the queue… but you get it 2-3 months sooner. :) Celia Ok I have 2 lovely dogs one a rescue dog named Rory, we have had him for 3 years and he is a Jack Russell cross our second dog Missy who we have had since a pup and she is a Maltese Jack Russell cross. I have no problems with our dogs they are amazing and well trained by me but also are very good with all members of the family. My query relates to Missy who is 5 and is very nervous and had been from day one, I put lot of work in and she is well socialised with people and dogs. Paw Man Dogs being excessively nervous can basically come from two causes, poor genetics or a stressful environment where the dog perceives it gets a reward for offering the stressful behavior. Notice I used the phrase ‘the dog perceives it gets a reward’ as opposed to using the phrase ‘where you reward the dog for offering the stressful behavior’. When a dog offers stress motivated or fearful behavior then the simple act of picking up the dog and trying to sooth it can be perceived by some softer dogs as a reward which will cause the dog to repeat the fearful behavior and every time it repeats it will escalate slightly. Celia Yesterday my eldest daughter and myself were walking the dogs around the block and Missy was attacked quiet savagely by a Ridgeback type dog. It was a female and it was very traumatic for her and us. The dog grabbed Missy and was shaking her I did not think, I just reacted, and grabbed the dog and managed to get it off my dog and luckily it did not turn on me. My little dog took off very quickly was yelping and there was a lot of commotion but luckily she ran home. Paw Man The way your dog reacted is quite within the normal range of responses. There is no mention of dog leashes here. Should I assume that you dropped your dog’s leash during the attack or should I assume that your dog was off leash? With two people walking two dogs can I assume that each of you had one dog on leash? If so which one of you had control of the dog that was attacked? Was it you or your daughter… and if it was your daughter then how old was she at that time? Celia Yes our dogs both walking with leads, attacking dog not, and escaped from yard. I was in control of Missy and my daughter who is 13 had hold of our other dog. I took her straight to vets for treatment and have medication. I’m really worried about her understandably this had affected her she is very sore and has 2 open wounds. What can I do for her? How can I help her? She seems so scared and is shaking a lot. Paw Man I would be exposing this dog to DAP (Adaptil) as soon as possible, just to address the anxiety created by the recent attack. It may also have an effect on the dog’s normal resting state behavior… making her even more nervous…. Hence the suggestion for exposure to DAP. Celia PS: My daughter is ok. Im just a little injured but we are worried about how this may affect her. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you, Selena Paw Man Are you referring to the dog or your daughter? Celia Sorry I mean my dog, my daughter is very resilient and is ok. Paw Man You say that your dogs are well trained by you..... What training methodology have you used to train them? How are they normally disciplined when they misbehave? How do you normally interact with Missy when she exhibits her nervous behavior? Celia Im worried about walking Missy and Im worried if she may be extra ‘stressed’ or nervous. And I wonder as she is nervous by nature if there is anything I should work on with her. And manage her being scared if we come across other dogs whilst out walking. I worry this traumatic event may impact her negativity. Very much food based training. We got Missy at 12 weeks and we went to puppy pre-school then took her to doggy x2 week for socialisation. Paw Man Bingo! This is the most important piece of information that explains why this dog was so nervous since you first got her. She is a Late Litter Removal Dog (LLRD) and LLRDs typically display the following behavioral traits; 1. They under-bond with their owners 2. They tend to be aloof and stand-offish 3. They often see themselves not as part of the human pack 4. They tend to place themselves on the periphery of the human pack, not within it 5. They are prone to dog-to-dog aggression. Whilst these traits are just tendencies and not absolutes, their presence is usually quite predictable in LLRDs. Add to this the fact that the only exposure your dog has had to training has revolved around positive-only training… there has been no system of ‘Rules Boundaries & Limitations’ (thanks Cesar Millan) imposed on this dog to give it structure and consistency. The reward based training has given it a list of behaviors that sometimes get rewards from you, (including showing fearful behavior) but for the dog the fear based behaviors are self-rewarding and self-verifying…. So how can fear based behaviors be self-verifying??? Picture this process of associations playing through your dog’s mind….; - There’s another dog! - I was attacked by another dog once, - I’m afraid I will be attacked again, - I previously ran away and escaped to safety, (perceived positive outcome for fearful behavior) - Try to run away now, (stress) - Mum won’t let me go, I’m so scared, (another reward – mum holding me) - I escaped, I’m free from the attacking dog, (perceived reward) or - Mums holding me and praising me, mum likes me being scared because she praises me when I show fear. (rewarded final behavior). Celia She is mainly nervous around men and we usually pick her up (which may not be the best thing)… Paw Man After reading the above possible associations that can go through your dog’s mind in stressful situations I think that now you can be very sure that picking up a stressed dog is definitely the wrong thing to do unless it is to stop it being physically attacked by another dog. Celia …but after 5 years we really dont have much to do with men that are unknown to us. She is used to the men around us. Paw Man … And used to you picking her up when she starts to exhibit fearful behavior around unknown males or other dogs. Celia Re misbehaving; I use a stern voice using the word ‘No’ and finger gestures for example pointing at the door if I wish them to go outside. Paw Man The only thing the word ‘No’ conveys to your dogs is that you are angry at that point in time….. but the word ‘No’ does not convey WHY you are angry and it certainly does not convey to the dog that you are angry because of something that the dog did previously. This dog has got off to a bad start in life and the recent attack is going to mean that you have a lot of work ahead of you. Whilst I can’t talk you through everything you have to do I can give you some guidelines and some do’s and don’ts; Suggestions – Look up “NILIF Dog Training” on Google. Pay particular attention to any NILIF method that has a food-withholding period at the start of it. These are far better than ones that don’t have a food withholding period. Do; Have the dog on leash whenever any males visits the house, Hand the leash to every male who enters your home and tell him not to let it go and to ignore any and all negative behavior from the dog, but that they can respond to any positive behaviors offered by the dog. Don’t; Don’t pick the dog up or even interact with it if it displays any fearful behavior. If the dog starts to escalate it’s fearful behavior then deliver a short sharp pop on the leash and then ignore it until it ceases the fearful behavior and only then can you praise it. It may take a couple of days for the dog to work this out but persist and be consistent in your approach.
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 04:55:44 +0000
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