Matt Covey

Suburban K-9

Bark Avenue Daycamp

Bartlett, Il

www.barkavenuedaycamp.com

www.landmarkfarminc.com

www.wshs-dg.org

Daisy

Many people get dogs both for the love that they give us and because they are such natural guardians of their home and family.  I love all dogs, but I tend to gravitate towards the guarding breeds for those very reasons.  I enjoy having a dog that is great with children, friendly towards all adults, but will also guard my family if needed. 

Unfortunately many people have issues with their dogs guarding or becoming possessive when they should be acting friendly.  First we need to make a distinction between protective and possessive behaviors.  Socializing a dog is the process of showing a dog what is normal in a human world and what isn’t.  When we socialize a dog we are teaching them that it is normal for a strange person to come up and say hi to us and maybe reach out and pet them.  Through time they realize what is normal and they start to read our body language and our emotions in these situations.  As they age we ensure that they never show aggression in these situations but they will naturally be on guard for something different.  If a stranger were to run at you screaming and you became agitated and scared your dog should realize that something is different and will probably react by barking and growling.  This is one of the few times when a dog is acting protective, and doing it in the proper way.

Many dog owners see their dog acting possessive and mistake it for protective behavior.  Possessive behavior is when a dog acts aggressive to claim their owner, house, yard, or any other object.  Claiming something is when a dog is asserting his dominance to tell someone that this belongs to him and not to touch it.  This behavior is never acceptable for your pet dog to be showing.  The dog is not reacting to a dangerous situation where he should be on guard, he is simply becoming aggressive because he is the alpha at this point in time.  If a stranger rings the doorbell and you let him into the house, the dog should not be barking or growling due to the fact that you let the person in and are not showing any fear or anxiety yourself.  If your dog is acting aggressive then one of two things is going on.  If your dog hasn’t been properly socialized then he may be trying to protect you due to his incomplete knowledge of the human world.  If he has been properly socialized and he is acting in this manner than he is probably acting possessive and is telling the person to stay out of HIS house.

In my own house I have very specific rules about when my dogs can and cannot guard our property.  It is never acceptable to bark or growl at children even if they walk all the way up to the screen door.  I cannot see any reason why someone would need protected from a child, so I don’t ever allow this.  It is also never allowed to bark at people or dogs when they are out on the street or sidewalk, it’s not our property so they can’t guard it.  If an adult stranger is in our yard or knocking at the door I do want my dogs to bark to alert me.  In this situation barking is a good thing to me as long as it is under control.  I don’t want jumping or scratching at the windows and I don’t want vicious barking.  The purpose of the barking is for the dog to tell me that someone is there so that I can make the decision.  Once I have seen the person I then ask the dogs to quiet down.  The goal is that the dog alerts you to a potential issue, you evaluate it, and you then tell the dog what to do.   

Of course with dogs there is an exception to every rule.  A dog could be socialized and could still react aggressively towards a man in a big coat with a hat on due to fear of his outfit.  In that situation you should then continue socializing with new people and outfits until his fear is gone.  To fully explain how to socialize a dog, help ease his fears, and correct him when he becomes aggressive would take an entire book.  Hopefully from reading this article you get enough knowledge to know what is acceptable, what isn’t, and when to call in a professional if you need help.  

Matt Covey

Suburban K-9

Bark Avenue Daycamp

Bartlett, Il 60103

630 289 8470

The Do’s and Don’ts of Dominance

Do

Give your dog plenty of love and affection

Allow your dog into your space if you desire (on your bed, couch, lap, etc.)

Give your dog treats and special bones

Give your dog free time to smell, run, and be a dog

Allow your dog to go out of some doors first when you feel like it by giving him permission (going in the back yard)

Whatever you enjoy with your dog

Give him personal space if you know he enjoys it

Play games that you enjoy with your dog

Don’t

Give your dog affection when he demands it or is showing any behavior or state of mind you want to stop (petting him when he jumps on you, paws at you, when he is barking at another dog, when he is nervous…….)

Allow your dog into your private space uninvited.  It should always be your decision

Allow your dog to demand treats from you by whining, barking, or pawing at the container

Allow your dogs free time to be more prevalent than his structured time.  He should walk in a calm submissive state first, and get free time as a reward after

Allow your dog to push through doors or go first on leash

Let him be the decider that tells you what should be done right now (walking, petting, playing)

Allow him to growl at anyone to tell them to leave him alone.  A dog should be submissive to all humans

Allow him to use his teeth on your skin or clothing

As a dog trainer that specializes in behavioral issues I hear a variant of this phrase from someone new every day.  “I don’t understand why my dog does this, I’ve done obedience training with him, and he’ll sit when I ask him to.”  “This” can refer to biting, growling, pulling on leash, running away, fighting, destroying the house……  

I have noticed that when people get a dog they usually start to train him right away, but it is done for the wrong reasons.  Most people train a dog simply because that’s what you do, you get a dog and then you teach him to sit.  The problem that I see is that most training is now done in one of two ways.  Most training involves treats or huge amounts of praise and excitement to shape the behavior.  Using these methods is a great way to shape a certain action with your dog but I want you to analyze what you are creating.  When we teach a dog to sit, down, come, or stay using these techniques they usually learn it very quickly, but what does that really help?  The action that we just taught them is now an excitement tool; the dog performs his trick in order to get a reward and ends up more excited than when he started. This is a fine way to teach the dog to roll over, give paw, sit pretty, crawl or a thousand other tricks but it shouldn’t used for obedience.

I use obedience for two main reasons.  The first is to get a dogs respect and the second is as a calming tool.  Think about it, when you tell your dog to down, do you want him wagging his tail and squirming in place barely able to control himself, or laying there contentedly waiting  for you to calmly release him?  Do you want to have to offer him a treat to listen, or do you want him to lie down at any point for any reason with any distraction around?  When we teach a dog to listen to us because we are in charge, not through bribery, we automatically assume the leadership position.  This simple change can help so much in our daily lives.  Submissive dogs display fewer behavioral issues than dominant dogs and happier lives result.

When looking for a trainer look for someone who is firm yet fair.  The trainer should strive to teach dogs to listen without using bribery and without resorting to using pain and fear.  This is very tough to do and is a skill acquired through years of practice and learning.  I call the recent training phenomenon of humanizing dogs the “big box training method.”  Large stores that hire thousands of trainers each year don’t have the luxury of finding experienced and skilled trainers (they also can’t afford them), so they hire trainers that practice the easiest method which is treat based training.  Quick results ensue, but the dog never becomes obedient or calm, he just learns a bunch of fun tricks.  There is nothing wrong with teaching your dog tricks in this manner, just don’t expect obedience to mean anything if you do it this way.

If you train your dog and get the obedience results you were looking for, but still have some behavioral issues, it is now time to call in a behaviorist.  As a professional behaviorist I help owners deal with any issues that may come up, from resource guarding to unprovoked aggression towards humans or dogs.  Just like doctors that specialize in different fields, all dog trainers are not equipped or trained to deal with every issue that can arise.  Some trainers focus on agility while others focus on training hunting dogs.  You wouldn’t go to your local podiatrist to get treatment for cancer, just as you shouldn’t go to your local agility instructor for help with behavioral issues.  My biggest goal when working with dogs and humans is to teach people that obedience and behavior modification are two completely different things, but can be used together to get phenomenal results.

Matt Covey

Suburban K-9

Bark Avenue Daycamp

Bartlett, Il

Matt Covey

Suburban K-9

Bark Avenue Daycamp

Bartlett, Il