Most recently, especially within the last few years, clients have been coming to me with highly stressed, highly reactive dogs.
A stressed dog typically exhibits a pattern of: back stiffness, muscle tension, licking of the lips, short heavy breaths, expanded chest, glossy eyes. He or she paces and can’t sit still. If not managed, this behaviour can snowball into a heightened reactive response of either aggression or fearful withdrawal.
Handlers who bring me dogs with these problems most always say; “He or she is stubborn and can’t learn anything. I have no recall and this dog just doesn’t get it, no matter what I try to teach it. It doesn’t get it and I’m at wits end”. What I notice is that the handler has the same level of stress as the dog has.
Long before we see the aggression and/or abnormal fear what we need to understand is simple: anxiety is the root cause of this unpleasant or embarrassing behaviour and we have perpetuated it.
The Question we need to ask ourselves is simple: “How did my dog develop this hyperactive anxious behaviour?” After all, he or she wasn’t like that when I first met them.
It likely started from the very first day you picked up your puppy or dog. When we go to pick out a puppy and it is out with its littermates, in the environment it was born in, we usually see a playful puppy that loves to interact with us. It licks our faces, wags its tail, and comes to us. This may not happen in all cases, as the whelping environment has to be proper as well, but it is what happens in most cases. Do you notice that when that pup gets in your car it is usually quiet, might even whimper, and isn’t acting as playful and outgoing as it was 15 minutes ago? In fact, this apprehension becomes even more prominent when you get the pup home.
The first thing we do when we get the pup in the car, is wrap it in a blanket, hold on to it, stroke it, and use a soothing voice to try to get it to be happy again. In fact, in normal circumstances, we tend to get giddy with excitement, and speak in high pitched voices. To a dog this is hyperactive behaviour, and this is now how the dog sees you.
You take the puppy home, you show all your neighbours, invite your extended family over, play with it to exhaustion and then bring it in the house, where it makes a mistake and then you say a firm “noooooo”. I would like everyone to pause and think about that. The issue here is that your pup is somewhat stressed and possibly anxious, and you are giving it tons of affection and attention. Now the dog has learned that when it is anxious, stressed or unsure, it gets affection. This now becomes a pattern in the dog’s life.
The dog has learned that when it is anxious, stressed or unsure, it gets affection.
Under a natural order, according to my whelping box theory and the research I have done, in the first week of life a mother dog keeps things quiet: no strangers, no strange dogs, no corrective behaviour. She does not growl at them - the mother is calm and focused. This isn’t just with dogs, it happens with other species as well. Conversely, as humans, if and when our baby cries we pick it up and try to soothe it to get it to calm down. In a whelping box, the puppy that does not focus or cries and can’t find its way to the mother does not get to eat, does not get affection or warmth. The mother pays no attention to it. However, if the pup finds its way to the mother, it gets the attention, food and warmth that it needs to survive. This is something to think about.
When a dog’s anxiety begins to take hold, there are some things we can do to help them self-regulate their emotions:
Wait patiently until it calms down and give it a short “good dog” pet using a calm tone of voice and smooth hand movement
Always use a level voice when directing the dog. When praising the dog, make your voice a semi tone higher in pitch, but nothing over the top. Finally, use a firmer voice when trying to be stern, but not one that’s filled with heavy breathing, frustration, impatience, or anger.
When the dog greets you at the door, don’t act like you are so glad to see them. This may seem counter-intuitive, but feeding into his or her excitement is teaching them that they will be rewarded for over the top behaviour. Instead, walk past the dog, wait for him or her to calm down, and then acknowledge them.
When you do go out, if he or she jumps all over you, stay still or walk in a straight line. Do not react to the hyper behaviour. The dog will eventually calm down. When he or she does so, call them to you and give them a short, soothing pat using a calm voice.
Keep it at two feet, let the dog do his or her thing. It will calm down and which point in time a short good dog, soothing short pet and start walking.
Put your shoes on and grab your leash. Your dog, seeing this, will get excited. Sit and wait until it calms down. Once he or she is calm, hook up the leash and go out the door. If you have a back yard, a much better approach is to let the dog out first in the back yard to burn off some steam before the walk.
These are just some pointers that may relieve anxiety in your dog. It will take some time, patience, and consistency on your part. The most important thing here is not to further feed the dogs anxiety, as that’s half the battle. Realize that this behaviour has manifested with your equal participation in the dilemma.
“If you go about it like you have 15 minutes it will take you all day, if you approach it like you have all day it will take you 15 minutes.” - Monty Roberts
If you want a calm dog, you must be calm yourself. After all, a dog mimics our behaviour.
- Sam
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We offer training year-round at our 50 acre facility in Beeton, Ontario. For an additional fee, when scheduling permits, we can also travel to you.