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Tuesday, September 10 2013

Dealings With Dogs

By Raewyn Saville on Tuesday, September 10 2013, 04:55 - Dog Handling

Living with other species is something that, in my opinion, most human beings don't do very well. The first thing they do is give the furry or feathery thing a nice human name and then stamp upon it their idea of what a person of that name is like and how it will behave and what it will believe etc.

When things go wrong in the relationship they usually go spectacularly wrong because somehow the furry or feathery thing doesn't have any intention of doing things in a human way.

Nice kind words, or alternatively cursing the thing, don't actually mean too much. Let's take dogs for example.

Dogs are:

  • territorial,
  • pack animals,
  • a regimented top to bottom caste system,
  • have confidence in habitual behavior and timetable,
  • have a desire to scavenge, hunt, kill, and mostly like to eat huge amounts when it is available and are happy to go without for a few days after the 'big feed',
  • are playful with other dogs even as adults,
  • strongly sexual in their behavior (especially when left entire and often even when castrated).

Dogs are NOT:

  • able to be put in strange places continuously without being trained to accept the situation by putting their faith in their human handlers,
  • able to accept any old dog they have never met before or any other animal or bird that looks smells and acts outside of their experience,
  • able to operate unless they have a 'boss dog' at the head of the pack OR they nominate themselves to be 'Boss Dog' and everyone else is happy with that,
  • fluffy little wind up toys who will do your exact bidding at all times,
  • able to function when there is no timetable of activity for them to hang on to,
  • able to choose suitable times for their activities, toilet behavior or sexual behavior.

Most of the so called problems that people have with dogs relate back to those very pros and cons.

For myself I admire' the dog' as a species, as a helper, as a being I can co-exist with on the basis that he is a dog and I am a human being. My values are not his values, my behaviors are not his behaviors. I suppose looking at it with a bit of fun, it is a like having a friend who is a drunk and you are teetotal but you love them just the same, or the other way around if you wish.

The major problem that most people have is stopping the dog from attacking when it is cornered: attacking people, children, dogs and other birds and animals. As a human being this is totally abhorrent behavior, as a dog it is normal behavior. A human being's idea of being cornered or in a jam and a dog's idea of being cornered or in a jam are miles apart.

As a human being I might attack some other being because:

  • I am confronted with someone taking away my freedom and I need to get past them,
  • I am in a war with my fellows fighting for the freedom of my people,
  • I am in a one on one contest with another creature and one of us will kill the other, or
  • I have a need to take a life in order to eat.

Please remember we are dealing with nett basic emotions here (which is actually what happens when you allow other creatures into your life).

As a dog I might attack some other being because:

  • I am confronted with some creature I do not recognise, I don't trust it and I don't want it to come any closer to me.
  • I am in a strange place and the creature is stopping me from running to get to my safe place. It is blocking my access to my safe place.
  • There is a creature making weird noises and screaming and it is behaving like it is going to die, it is flapping and running, I need to speed up it's death.
  • This creature does not belong in my pack I need to give it a good scare off because if it comes closer my pack will be in danger.
  • I am biting and chasing this thing and it is great fun and tastes good too.

As a human being I will try to outsmart my captor in order to escape. I will agree that going to war is the way I want my people to go forward. When confronted with a wild tiger it is just him and I - then I had better fight for my life and have a long knife because his claws are like razers. I have come from many millenia of meat eaters and I am happy to know that animals I eat have to die in order that I can eat. All of these things I actually think are completely normal.

As a dog living in a human pack, if I don't like any new person coming into my territory I will bite that person, and if I am in a strange place or separated from all that I know I will be angry and bite or I will huddle in a corner until some creature comes to me then I will bite. If the humans bring some other animal or bird into our territory then it might be the enemy so I will kill it. Sometimes it is something woolly or feathery and I chase it to see if it will run, but it doesn't, the stupid thing just sits there so I bite it to make it run and it tastes real good. So that is why the human being brought home the lamb, so I could have dinner. 'Oh for goodness sake dog couldn't you have waited till Christmas just like the rest of us so we could all have some'.

So, in my Opinion, these are the basic drivers of problems with those dogs who come to live with us and somehow don't fit in due to aggression that they perceive is perfectly normal, and they are right.

Hang on there. Those Dog and human traits of aggression are not that different are they. People do attack others or animals for illogical reasons. I can't answer for why human beings get into a violent mindset, however, my observations of dogs over many years has given me a little insight into the why.

I consider working Farm Dogs as normal as dog behavior gets. They are busy, fit and get adequate nourishment. Individual animals on small land areas do not get enough exercise, get far too much or far too little food and have no purpose or work.

These three things, in my opinion, represent a big chunk of the manic attack mentality in dogs. Who knows maybe the same applies to some human beings.

First: People please divorce your emotion of cuddly puppy from the need to train for a happy well adjusted and useful companion animal.

Second: Admit that your puppy shows aggression towards some things. It is normal for goodness sake. If your puppy is not aware of the difference between you and your family and the neighbours kids, then there is something wrong with it.

Third: Do not beat your puppy or dog for showing aggression to oddball occurrences in his life.

Fourth: Learn from the experts how to change your Puppy's aggressive behavior into a positive experience for all concerned and keep training your pup until it is two years old under many different circumstances and you will end up with a trusting companion who understands that you are Boss Dog and the decision maker for the Pack.

When I have the unfortunate experience of trying to train aggression out of a grown dog, I have no idea how many rules the handler has broken with the pup, how much confusion has been caused in the dog's simple reasoning processes and whether there will be a positive outcome.

When I get all those lovely pups coming to class at 12 weeks old and I get the handlers to enforce some gentle restraint upon their cuddly babies and I watch those pups starting to look to their handlers for information and 'what next Boss', I know that if we continue to train in this manner then these pups at least will be happy members of human society.

The other sad but true problem that we have with Dogs is that we rescue so many from such a wide variety of neglect and maltreatment. Some of those dogs will never be normal. They either have some brain damage or they have huge emotional trauma or both, and they are left subnormal in their response and reactions. Many kind hearted people try to bring some normalcy to these dogs lives. Sometimes it isn't possible and in order for life to return to normal for the human household, the dogs need to be euthanised. I don't like it either but it is an unfortunate fact of life and if you want to have animals as part of your environment then dealing non-emotionally with the facts of life is a very good life lesson for all...

In my job as Mentor and Coach for Dog Owners I see all sorts of wonderful and terrible things happening for Dogs. I always try to be fair and honest with my clients. I will always put in whatever the Owner wants when difficult problems arise. It is not helpful for me to say to people that it is 'Your Fault' although sometimes I might intimate that their behavior might be putting their dog at risk. I will also let my clients know if there is 'no further treatment' for their animal.

The percentage of dogs with Aggression Problems that I see is about 5%. This is remarkable and shows just how hard dogs try to fit into the human pack and how many really good laid back human beings are happy to have their Dogs making some of the decisions in their day to day lives and it works - amazing.

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Tuesday, September 25 2012

I am Master

By Raewyn Saville on Tuesday, September 25 2012, 14:38 - Dog Handling

You are my dog...

I thought after writing last night that I seldom explain why I like standing on a rope and holding my dog down, and it may seem a little silly to some people. I call it Passive Dominance. I don't want to do this when my dog errs, makes a mistake or transgresses, I want to train my dog to give me submission at all times.

Submission at all times is the requirement of the Alpha pack leader. All the rest of the pack must always be submissive, not just when the chips are down. Nobody else in the pack makes decisions about which way the pack will run, or who will eat first second and third. The pack leader has that sorted just by virtue of being the Alpha Dog who leads the pack.

The Leader does not go around growling and whacking his subjects over the head or rounding them up to make them behave, he or she just leads by example and practically ignores the goings on further down the chain of command. If there are two younger siblings scrapping within the pack, the pack leader casually looks over at them and probably lifts his lip in distain and the scrapping is halted. So in order that dogs will behave themselves and want to please you as the Master then you have to take some leaf's out of the book of the wild dogs that have been studied and examined.

For example. I am the Master so I will eat my dinner first and then I will put down the scraps for my dog/s and if they choose to fight over them, then I will look in their direction and frown and they will stop or someone will crawl away and submit to the others. However, my experience is that if I put down a big tray with goodies on it they all pitch in and help themselves, I do notice that my youngest dog who is now 11 months, and used to pinch everyone's food when she was younger, has obviously been given the message by the older dogs and is now waiting her turn at the food tray. The rest of the dogs have decided she is old enough to wait in her place now. When she was a puppy it was okay for her to get extras, but now it's not. There has not been any drama about this, it is something they have all worked out for themselves.

Example 2. I am the Master so I will decide when we are going out for a pack walk and hunt. All the dogs wait for me to make this decision. Again the youngest dog had been going off and hunting on her own, but has now decided she will wait for the rest of us and for me to call the shots. Again I don't know quite why she has decided this, but the problem has been solved. Maybe she got a fright on her own out hunting, maybe the dogs from next door chased her back through the fence when she went after one of 'their' rabbits. Whatever, she now enjoys the group walks and sticks with us and hunts with the other dogs, although occasionally she thinks she knows best and we all have to wait while she checks it out. All my dogs wait for me to let them know they can go after something. We have young roosters from the farmyard coming in around the house and the dogs let them do it, but if I say,' Chan get that bird out', he doesn't need another nod and he's off and the rooster flies over the fence. 'Good dog'. So I call the shots on the chase. We only have to see a hawk circling low over our house paddock and shout 'Hawk' to the dogs and they are out there barking and looking at the sky and frightening the living daylights out of the low flier, the Hawks learn too and don't come down too low - but there is always the odd new Hawk who doesn't know the rules. We have observed Hawks trying to pick up our young ducks sleeping in the sun, so this is a a worthy piece of work on the part of the dogs.

So I find it pretty easy to be the Master of my dogs. I keep off their case if they are playing together, I do their training for Agility on a one on one basis and they just love it. I don't get involved in the group games - I just let them do their own thing. They mostly sleep together and I never hear a bad word, although Becki-boo is a bit dominant about her sleeping space and sometimes snarls to keep others away, and they do, they have felt her nips before and they get out of her face. I play with them as individuals and they love that too. I hardly ever have to growl or snarl, just occasionally when they get a bit over enthusiastic at the gate when friends, dogs and/or people arrive. They become a bit overstimulated and need to be called to heel, but after that they are fine.

So why, you will ask, do some people have such great problems calming, training, and generally making their dogs into good citizens and happy home dwellers. Two things really. A lack of good training and a lack of any form of work for the dogs. If you can take care of these two things and give your dog adequate exercise and food, then everything will be just as it should be.

But I only want to own one dog, you say, I just want a companion, you say, fine, then recognise that your dog will adjust to this situation but it may be a bit wonky around other dogs for the whole of its life and it may be a little neurotic in general. I heartily recommend two dogs from one litter, or a family such as mine that just seems to add to itself about every four years and waxes and wanes from two to four dogs at any one time. I am casual about it, I simply love dogdom, and they come and they go. I break my heart when a favourite dies but I know that there are dozens more out there just waiting to make me into their Master as well. I have a little nation here and I am the boss, the queen, the leader. Am I a control freak, well probably, it's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

Have confidence, be strong, kia kaha, and enjoy the fun that life with other creatures affords you.

Raewyn Saville 25 September 2012

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Monday, September 24 2012

Why two little boys dislike each other

By Raewyn Saville on Monday, September 24 2012, 14:37 - Dog Handling

An Urgent call to help stop two fluffy toy dogs from damaging each other:

I had a call a couple of days ago from a woman who was worried about her daughter and her two dogs.

I had met these ladies before, but many years ago and I know they won't mind me sharing their dilemma.

This family have always had fluffy toy dogs and have never found themselves in the trouble they are in now. Their new addition to the household is a twelve month old entire boy and the 6 year old keeps attacking him. The injuries have been horrendous including a pierced eyeball on the young dog. The older dog is neutered.

The new dog is owned by the granddaughter of the lady who originally rang me, who has gone to live overseas and wants the dog to be sent to her when she is organised, and has requested her Mother keep the dog entire. Well having seen the dogs today I don't think that is going to be possible.

The older neuter dog has started peeing everywhere - in the house - on the furniture. They asked me why. So I asked the Man of the House how he would feel if a twenty-something year old handsome male came to live in his house without asking and took over all the privileges he had had and strutted around peeing his high octane testosterone all over his yard. Yeah, the guy agreed he would bop the young buggar as well. The thing is the young dog does not know why he is being hit on. He doesn't understand that he is entire and the other dog isn't. He is just doing what comes naturally as an entire male. The older neuter is peeing copiously to try and maintain his ranking within the household - and is becoming stressed about not being able to keep up. He is therefore out to damage this usurper and he is succeeding. Naturally though the young dog is retaliating as best he can and then the Lady owner puts her hands into the mix to try and pull them apart and is getting really bitten.

The first thing I noticed about the two dogs is that they had no commands to be quiet or sit or lie down or actually listen to the owner. Apparently there has been some whacking with a newspaper going on, but this is obviously not working. As I walked up the stairs both the dogs who were tied at either end of the stairwell landing, were going absolutely nuts, we couldn't hear each other speak, it was really frenzied stuff. We hooked the older dog up to a horse lead and took him out on to the deck, he was still very growly and irritable. So now he had two leads on. We dropped the horse lead onto the ground and stood on it all the way to his collar. He took it like a gent and just laid down quietly and looked happy that someone had relieved him of his responsibilities and he just lay there quiet and calm. When he seemed to be okay, I went and got another horse lead, we took the first dog into the house and left him there and repeated the treatment with dog two, the young lad about town. This was a different story, he squirmed and jiggled and did not want to accept being made to lie down.

This tells me that to date the one dog, one woman, arrangement he was living in was all about him. He is a spoilt brat and expects much the same in his new living arrangements. He can't help this, he has been babied and cooed over and he is getting it from his new parents as well, and the other dog doesn't like it one bit. So although he should not be doing it, the older dog does actually get some sympathy from me. The young dog is very beautiful and very confused and lonely for his old life, so there is a bit of a story going on here from all sides.

When the young guy had settled in his down position we reunited him with the older dog, we did some wrap work with the leads - we let them get close together so that we could pull them apart with the leads in wraps around both of them. We did not talk to them, we talked together, the Lady and her Partner, who told me that they both love the dogs BUT... there is a limit to how much they can tolerate, and we gently worked the dogs with our feet, pretty much ignoring them. It was very peaceful and calm and the dogs were a bit confused but not stressed and just doing as our body language asked. I have left them with some exercises to try and hope they will contact me to tell me they either (a) need more information or (b) have conquered all, which would be marvellous.

There is no big drama here except: 1. This couple have gone all out to try to make the new dog part of the family when they should have just left the dogs together to get on with it and sort it out. There may have been a few skirmishes but nothing like the serious stuff they now have.

2. It can be difficult for older dogs and neuter dogs to accept entire dogs, whether male or female, into their household, so at the first sign of trouble serious thought needs to be given to neutering the new addition. However, if you really do want to breed from the entire dog, then you have to give consideration to thinking along the lines of breeding kennel management. Crating the dogs, taking care with your socialisation etc.

3. Having a management plan in place for multiple dog households is essential anyway. For example all the dogs should have their own crate, in a separate place, in the garage, in the basement, in a spare bedroom, where ever you decide. The crate should have a water container and a cosy bed. Dogs need to learn to be shut in their crate from the time they arrive in the household and I have another blog on crating if you have not already read it, look for it. This allows for time out for everybody, people, other dogs, cats and other household members. If one of your dogs becomes ill or has had an operation then you have a safe haven for him to be cared for in. Your crates go in the car and on holiday with you and dog always has his home with him. If you do not have a special place for each dog then dog will find a way to be in your room with you and in your bed, and this too is fine on occasion but it is a little dangerous when a new dog comes on board and also wants to join the communal nest box. I have a soft crate for my young dog and it is working well, the others have a normal wire crate which I make into a home by covering with old blankets and making cosy on the inside. Wire crates fold down, so it is easy to ship in the car to another place to be built into a dog house once more. Some people think I am cruel crating my dogs, on the contrary, they love their crating and are very secure in there and go in of their own free will, and do not interfere with anyone else's crate, although my oldest dog at 14 did decide recently that there was some edible morsel in the puppy's soft crate and managed to jam her head and one shoulder in there to check it out and then stood up wearing the crate like a large hat peering out from the mesh area at the other end of the crate. It was very funny.

4. Lastly folks, I love my dogs too, but be aware they are dogs, don't be on their case all the time, don't panic if things look a little grumpy, dogs like to posture to each other and it will probably be just fine as long as you don't stick your oar, or hand or anything else in there and interrupt their communication. However, one of my dogs has a tendency to look a bit menacing to new dogs and if I think he has got stuck in a posture from which he cannot escape without losing face, I will say from where I am, preferably five plus meters away. 'Leave it boy', in my deepest slowest voice, and not very loud. He goes ' Oh yeah, sorry Mum' looks a bit silly and walks on. I do not hold his eye and I move on as well and he comes with me. He has had to learn this trick but it wasn't that difficult to teach and really is magic. Whatever, you do, do not yell, wave things or behave in an aggressive way when your dog is growling at another dog or barking manically with his teeth flashing and eyes on high alert, you are giving him permission to carry on, you are acting as he is acting and he loves it, it vindicates him and moves him on to the next stage of aggressive behavior. Likewise any feeling of fear or panic you have will also act as a positive reinforcement for the stance he has chosen.

Everyone needs to get their dogs exercise needs where they should be, the only good dog is a tired dog. Everyone needs to get their dogs out in a dog walking group or at a doggy school for good behavior lessons. The little guys need just as much training as the biggies. Maybe more because they have to put up with everyone wanting to pick them up and cuddle them and kiss them whether they like it or not, so temperament bomb proofing is an absolute must. I have just gone through it with Fae the Fat Fairy and she loves absolutely everybody and everydog. Believe me after what I have gone through with my rescued mutts over the last twenty years, she is a breath of fresh air.

Everything I write here is about the way I train and live with my dogs. I try to pass on the basic stuff, not the fancy stuff and I am always available to help anyone get over their communication problems with their dog.

Raewyn Saville 24th September 2012

Update 5th October 2012.

I revisited my little boys today, they have had an interesting ten days of learning new tricks with their handlers. The entire baby boy is going to Australia to his original owner next Friday which will be a great relief to the whole household, however, having the extra, threatening, dog in the house has brought to the fore the overly aggressive nature of the boy who belongs in the household. His handlers are going to try and get him to class with all my other beginner dogs, because he 'nuts off' at dogs when he goes on walks and is pretty naughty and is also quite an aggressor to guests in the house, and I certainly would not trust him around children, he has a very dominant nature. His lovely lady handler sayes it is her fault because she loves him and spoils him, but hey that's what we have dogs for, especially little dogs, it is no reason for him to be King of the Household, but we can all see how this stuff happens.. I will post more when he comes to class and we will see if we can get a handle or two on him to behave himself...

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