Behavior & Training

For dogs that jump-up to greet owners and visitors at home or strangers in the street, a variety of dog training texts recommend the owner shout at the dog, squirt him in the face with water or lemon juice, swat him on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper, yank on the dog's leash and/or halter, hang the dog by his choke-collar, squeeze the dog's front paws, tread on his hind paws, knee him in the chest, or flip him over backwards. Surely this is all pretty crazy for a dog that's only trying to say hello. Confucius once said, "No need to use an axe to remove a fly from the forehead of a friend." Indeed, why not just train the dog to sit, or lie down, when greeting people?

Reasons Why

Years ago, I read an article describing the successful rehabilitation of a fearful dog for the Show Ring. The article prompted the following response from the president of the national breed club: "...such a shy and unstable temperament is so untypical of the breed that one would hope this dog is not displayed as championship caliber, either for showing, or certainly for breeding".

Survey results are often accepted unquestionably without considering the representative database, the validity of the results, or even, whether or not the findings make sense. Because it is written down, it must be the gospel truth. Quite frankly though, I have yet to read even a single published survey on the breed incidence of biting, which would receive a grade better than F in a kindergarten midterm examination. More disturbing, once these hopelessly unreliable and unrepresentative surveys are edited, expurgated, bowdlerised and summarized to an hundred words or less for popular consumption by our ant-brained tabloid media, the remaining newsprint is hardly fit for paper-training puppies. It would not be so bad if the surveys were merely frivolous.

Dogs act like dogs. However, rather than teaching them how to appropriately act like dogs when living with people, many owners try to eliminate the dog's natural tendencies altogether by punishing the poor dog every time he acts like a dog. However, since the dog's behaviors are both innate and habitual, the punishments are often ineffective. Unpleasant? Often! But ineffective nonetheless.  

Many breeders and trainers employ aptitude/temperament tests for the evaluation of litters, or to determine the tractability and trainability of individual puppy prospects. The several tests in existence are basically variations on the same theme, and the prototypical test comprises evaluations of: eagerness to approach and follow (both assessments of social attraction towards people); response to handling and restraint; activity level; and reactivity to sound, sudden movement and other physical and social stimuli. However, the maximal benefits of testing are seldom realized because test scores are not validated, test results are frequently misinterpreted, and tests are rarely used in the intended manner. Understanding the limitations of aptitude tests considerably enhances their usefulness for the evaluation and prediction of behavior, temperament and above all, training.

Validity of Test Scores  

In addition to selectively breeding for disposition, all dogs should be actually trained to be friendly and trustworthy. It would be folly to sit back with the blithe assumption a puppydog will necessarily and naturally develop a super disposition, since dogs of all breeds and breeding are capable of being unfriendly. Moreover, many breed standards and descriptions actually forewarn us that dogs are prone to be shy, timid, nervous, suspicious, reserved, standoffish, protective, dominant or even aggressive, especially towards strangers.

An otherwise well-socialized dog may growl when approached. A long and protracted growl is not necessarily sign of an impending attack, rather the dog is warning us that he feels decidedly uneasy. When his personal space is violated, the dog has two options — to retreat, or, to convince the intruder to retreat. In many situations however, the dog’s retreat is prevented, for example, when on leash, when restrained during a veterinary examination, or when playfully cornered by a child and so, the dog can only growl as a signal that he is feeling uneasy and to warn people to stay away. The growl is not necessarily an indication of an irreparably flawed temperament but rather, the growl is simply an advertisement of the dog's discomfort at having been forced into a threatening situation for which he has been given insufficient preparation, i.e., the owner is trying to push the dog too far too fast.

In different countries around the world, “they” eat dogs, abuse animals in laboratories, beat seals to death and kill porpoises. Depending on individual beliefs, some of these activities are more distasteful than others. Certainly, we should all do our best to stop unnecessary abuse and wasteful slaughter. However, it is also important to maintain perspective and view the big picture. Right here in the United States “we” eat cattle, chickens, turkeys, pigs, and sheep (often warehoused in horrifying conditions). However, here, abuse, beating, and killing are largely reserved for domestic dogs, horses and humans.

As part of Dr. Beach's long-term study of the behavioral endocrinology of sexually differentiated behaviors in dogs (conducted at the University of California, Berkeley), we investigated sex differences in social rank and aggressiveness. The findings proved to be so rewarding, that observational experiments on the development of social hierarchies became the focus of the research program for nearly a decade.

The social structure of domestic dogs is often simplistically described in terms of a linear dominance hierarchy, in which the topdog, or “alpha animal”, is dominant over all lower ranking animals, the second ranking dog is subordinate to the topdog but dominant over all others, and so on down to the lowest dog on the totem pole. Moreover, it is popularly believed that rank is established and maintained by physical strength and dominant behavior, that the more dominant (i.e., higher ranking) dogs are more aggressive and that the most dominant dog is the most aggressive. Hence, dogs that frequently threaten, growl, fight and bite are often assumed to be “alpha” animals. The majority of the above assumptions are quite awry. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Dog trainers, breeders, veterinarians and shelter staff usually have a veritable bounty of useful information to impart to puppy-buyers. Unfortunately, prospective dog owners rarely take heed. When handling cute and cuddly puppies, people seldom acknowledge the timely nature (urgency) and utmost importance of training advice vis a vis appropriate husbandry and especially the prevention of predictable problems. Young pups are often viewed as animated furry toys, rather than the nearly full-size, adolescent dogs, that they will be in just four months time. Future puppy owners just cannot conceive that their bundle of fur could ever pose a problem — a classic example of the Problem? What Problem? problem. Consequently, the onus lies with trainers and other dog professionals to try to get prospective puppy-owners to wise-up pronto!

My first dog was an Alaskan Malamute — Totemtock's Omaha Beagle. He was perfect. His vast doggy behavior repertoire was always performed to perfection. Nothing escaped his vigorous enthusiasm. No exercise was executed without creative thinking and considerable Malamutian forethought. He was an indefectible digger, carpet-shredder and dismantler of furniture. He excelled in “competitive” obedience (competing against me) — his specialties being slow recalls, crooked sits, creeping down stays, pulling on-leash and lagging off-leash. But best of all — his forte, his piece de resistance ...running away! Barking was the only below par behavior, but he did “talk” a lot — he grumbled, growled, yowled and howled.

Humping is primarily a sexual behavior.  This is pretty obvious given its role in reproduction, and is generally accepted right across the spectrum of training philosophies. What is less agreed upon, and sometimes even quite hotly debated, is why dogs hump in what looks like non-hanky-panky situations, when humping should be considered problematic, and what to do when the behaviour is unwelcome.

Humping As A Hard-Wired Behavior Pattern

We asked new puppy owners from over 25 SIRIUS® puppy classes to list their most burning questions about raising a puppy. Below Dr. Dunbar answers the most frequently asked questions from our survey in rank order. 

This book explains how to easily housetrain and socialize your puppy, starting from Day One.  It covers: crate training, housesoiling, destructive chewing, socialization, preventing aggression, bite inhibition, on-leash walking, recalls, preventing adolescent problems and the importance of an off-leash puppy socialization and training class=.

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