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Pupforum presents your training questions answered by professional dog trainers.
Elaine has been training dogs professionally for 14 years. She is a CPDT as well as an endorsed member of NADOI. She is also certified in narcotics detection and is one half of a (twice) certified explosives detection team - the other half being her Dutch Shepherd Spawn, who is also titled in several protection sports. Elaine is the owner of Canine's Best Behavior, a Los Angeles based training company, offering Basic Manners, CGC, K9 Games (soon!) as well as behavior modification for aggression fears phobias etc.
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[Edit]
6/28/2005
We love dogs! All dogs!! Without meaning to, we humans sometimes interact in ways that may send mixed messages to dogs about our intentions.
Examples:
- Humans smile when we are happy (look at that cute puppy-BIG smile!) to some dogs you are baring your teeth and threatening them!
- We love to pat their head and stand over them …which may be perceived as challenging them for status.
- We hug. To most dogs (not yours-I know!) that’s rude. Body smashing is something that big dogs do to insolent puppies. If we do this to a small adult dog, they may feel inclined to “put us in our place”.
Meeting and Greeting:
- Give them a minute to get used to the sight, sound and (most importantly) the smell of you. Aggressive dogs rush at each other. By taking just a few moments to ask their name, breed, age etc., you buy even the most excitable dogs time to greet calmer.
- Offer a treat. A good rule of thumb is that if they can’t take the food, it’s too much. Again, time is your friend. Give them a minute, they may warm up.
- Don’t get in their face. Nose to nose is “I want to fight” in dog language! Some dogs may endure th
is until they can’t anymore and then you may get some warning, bared teeth, air snapping or growling.
- However, if this dog has been “corrected” for growling, you may get no warning at all. Growling is valuable information. If the dog growls apologize to the owner for breaching that dog’s comfort level.
- Help owners by not encouraging dogs to play roughly or jump on you. They are happy that you like their dog and are reluctant to say “hey, don’t let him jump on you”. If you hold off on the physical affection for even just one minute, they will most likely seat themselves and then you can pet them.
- If the dog is fearful, overwhelmed, reactive etc., try saying something nice about the dog instead of putting social pressure on them. Interact with the people not the dog. Maybe next time, the dog will feel more open to socializing with you because “nothing bad” happened last time.
- If you are bitten: get their name and phone number and report it to animal regulation. Legally (in Ca.) a dog that has bitten-no matter what size dog or bite level-must be quarantined for 10 days. Hopefully with a little bit of information and some common sense-that will not happen!
Elaine Allison CPDT NADOI
Canine Behavior Consultant
Canine's Best Behavior
1.866.K9s.Best
www.caninesbestbehavior.com
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