Dog Aggression--A Dream Comes True!

Almost a year ago I met with Adam, his mother and their dog Malachi. This beautiful Yellow Lab's world had gotten smaller and smaller as the years ticked away.

He attacked a small dog in his home requiring the dog be reassembled at the vet. His aggression didn't stop at dogs when a repairman was bitten. That's when I was called.

To assess Malachi's reactivity to dogs, I had my husband walk one of our dogs 50 yards in front of Malachi and I could barely hold onto him. He not only whined, whimpered and made noises like I was torturing him, he lunged and spun like I was reeling in a 200lb deep sea trophy fish.

The next day I brought in my champ, Archie who I've used with dogs like Malachi. I walked with Malachi and had my husband quickly hand off Archie to my other side. Before Malachi knew what hit him he was walking next to another dog, the first time in years. Archie did what he does best, ignores "bad energy." And Malachi was that. After walking with Malachi pulling and whining a little, finally I let Malachi sniff Archie. Malachi was sooooo relieved. You could feel the relief wash over him--finally he was meeting another dog.

Dogs are meant to be social. When they're cooped up behind a fence or in a home for years they become anxious and want to meet other dogs, but it's expressed in nervous, reactive energy. At one point Malachi was a loving, sweet Lab who played with other dogs. That social muscle had atrophied.

Showing Adam and his mother that Malachi wasn't "broken" was the first step. Inside their home with my dog Archie, I was answering their questions as they pet Malachi. I watched as suddenly Malachi turned to eye Archie for an attack. I simply gave Malachi a verbal, "Eh-eh!" and he stopped.

They continued to pet him as I explained what had just happened. Then explained that they should not continue petting him. This is where proper praise comes into place. If you praise your dog when he misbehaves or is nervous--you send the message, "I agree with that behavior." In other words, "Malachi, we agree with your guarding behavior in our home." This gave me insight into what might have happened to the little dog Malachi attacked and even the repairman. Malachi was easy to verbally correct, he just needed proper communication from his humans.

I showed Adam how to properly walk Malachi and told him to walk Malachi daily, starting slowly and short walks due to a torn ligament he was recovering from and to make Malachi's walks successful.

I asked Adam what his goal for Malachi was, no matter how unlikely or huge. He said he wanted be able to take Malachi to dog parks. I told him we'd achieve that goal if he stuck to the training program.

Adam is in my neighborhood and I would see him out there with Malachi walking even when the weather was snowy, raining, early morning, or getting hot. The dedication of that 14 year old was amazing.

Months later I ran into Adam while on a run with my Golden. Malachi met my Golden with no reaction whatsoever. Adam was calm, relaxed and cool, Malachi mirrored his energy. I was so excited to see their progress. Over the months I kept running into Adam and Malachi, often with all 3 of my dogs, and Malachi had no problem meeting my dogs.

It's been almost a year since my first meeting with Malachi and I told Adam months ago that Malachi's ready for the dog park whenever Adam was ready. Last weekend we finally made Adam's dream come true as we went to the dog park with Malachi and my dogs. Adam was a little nervous, but I gave him the dog park drill on the walk there.

It was amazing. Malachi behaved like a pro. The park was filled to the brim with dogs large and small and Malachi went from dog-to-dog. Oftentimes he was surrounded by dogs and stood comfortably while they sniffed. He was confident and relaxed. We didn't spend much time there as I wanted to make sure our first visit was positive.

Adam's looking forward to going back again and again. It's really great to see a dream finally come true.

Dog Codependency

The definition of a codependent relationship is an, "Unhealthy love and a tendency to behave in overly passive or excessively caretaking way that harms one's relationships and quality of life."

I'm not surprised to hear that dogs I come across who are in a codependent relationship with their owner started out "fine" or "normal" but are now insecure, or fear aggressive, guarding dogs. These dog owners, typically women, probably liked the first time their dog growled at someone and behaved like an over-possessive, jealous boyfriend. It made them feel loved and protected.

Later when the aggression increased and they were the only ones their dogs could be near, that made them feel special, so they rewarded the aggressive behavior. Oftentimes they take the side of the dog, "He's scared!" Positively reinforcing the aggression with coddling.

The first case I'll discuss is from an owner named Suzy in her 3rd year at CU. She had a Chihuahua who had been practicing this codependent behavior for many years, and it had escalated for so long, Suzy could no longer take Tank on walks or out of the house because he would try to attack humans and dogs alike.

As soon as I walked into her house, I was instantly bitten by a streak of beige as Tank darted across the floor and took a chunk out of my leg, again disappearing under a table. What always interests me in aggression cases is the reaction of the owners. Suzy did and said nothing to reprimand Tank.

I was bitten at least 10 times while we stood there talking. Since I had jeans on, only half of the bites landed and broke or bruised the skin, but still, no response from Suzy. Interesting. Oftentimes owners think because I'm a trainer they're to sit back and let me take over, so I have to ask them, "How do you respond when he bites people like that?" to really assess that I'm getting an accurate picture of what happens during the regular day-to-day. Does this woman protect her guests from her dog's bites? She responded with a whining, "Taaaa-aaank. Noo-000." It didn't convince either of us, and Tank came back for another bite, maybe her words even triggered Tank's attack.

I took over and halted the assaults with firm body language and stating a firm "EH!" If Suzy wasn't going to be boss--or didn't know how--it was time to stand up to this little guy who was obviously running the show. My legs were throbbing. I didn't get bitten again. I showed Suzy how to tell Tank, "No," gently and easily, and communicate with him properly.

She showed remorse and felt sorry for her dog. Oddly enough, she never once apologized or felt sorry for the many bites I had received by her dog. She also seemed disinterested in the process with many sighs. I later found out that her roommate put her up to hiring me.

The second case of codependency I'll discuss was just as serious, however the dog was, by breed, more dangerous, since she was a Pit Bull. The owner, Jen has MS (multiple sclerosis) and is bed ridden most of the day with her dog as her snuggling companion. Jen's mother Katie takes care of her and her father who also lives in the house and has more advanced MS.

Also living in the house is Jen's 17 year old son Tim. The Pit Bull, Lucy had once had a sibling who was euthanized due to aggression. Lucy had attacked the Pug in the house, causing extensive vet bills.

Lucy had been on a walk with Jen, while Jen was in a motorized wheel chair, and Lucy pulled away and attacked a neighbor's dog, causing much damage. Lucy was now officially deemed viscous. That's when I was called as a, "Last ditch effort."

Lucy was extremely reactive and guarding. I couldn't move or talk in Jen's presence without Lucy growling, puffing her flews (lips) or barking at me. Again, nobody in the family would correct her behavior. I finally had to ask Tim to leash Lucy and pull her to the other side of the room so I could continue the initial consultation.

Even though Katie, the grandmother and Tim seemed to be motivated to do what it would take to train Lucy, Jen seemed the least enthusiastic, had reservations, excuses, and would shoot down many of my ideas. It was not her idea to call me, it was her mother who had made the call.

There seemed to be a disconnect with Jen. She wanted her dog to be able to be socialized and to be able to walk Lucy safely, however she still wanted Lucy to be a "guard dog." I explained that her dog has no obedience training and she has no control over Lucy. Lucy reacts to EVERYONE as danger and that's not going to help anyone. Even guide dogs who have been trained to never react to people or dogs have been known to react when a threat is present. THAT is the keenness that she's looking for--not a dog who sees a rocking horse in a driveway a perceives imminent danger.

I made it clear that I would not be willing to start training unless everyone was on the same page. I would be wasting their time and mine if I didn't have full cooperation.

Results:

With Tank, because it was never Suzy's idea to call in a trainer, she was never on board to do any of the work necessary to work with her dog. She relinquished her dog, and the last I heard, Tank was going on to his 2nd placement.

After several months of training, Lucy has made an 80% or more recovery. She no longer barks all day so everyone is, "No longer on eggshells." All the people in the household can easily tell Lucy a command and she will obey. This is key since Katie needs to assist Jen when she falls out of bed or needs assistance.

Lucy is less reactive on walks. Tim has taken her to an outdoor restaurant and she has sat quietly. During my visits, I can jump around, talk and yet Lucy remains relaxed and calm. Lucy gets daily walks thanks to Tim's hard work, and since the entire household is on the same page with the training, Lucy has made huge strides.

**I never got a photo of "Tank." All names have been changed but the stories are true.

What is your dog woofing down?

I got a call this morning from a friend wanting to know if I had any suggestions on dog food for her dog. Oh boy, does I!

Like everyone else, I used to buy middle-o-the-road dog food. I have three dogs to feed, and that seemed pretty dern good. However, the more I came across "dogs with issues," and the more research I did, the more I learned how what our dogs eat does effect their affect.

Some dogs react to the preservative Ethoxyquin. What evidence most experts, and I have, seem to be anecdotal. I changed my dog food to an all-natural dog food and two of my dogs skin allergies stopped. I thought my Golden's chewing and scratching was a dry skin thing--with the new food she's finally at peace.

There is one dog food study I know of, where Dr. Nicholas Dodman ran on an all-natural dog food, with the added twist of protein levels. It's been a known fact in the dog training community that high protein diets can cause aggression in dogs. So if your dog is aggressive, the trainer suggests you switch them to a low protein alternative.

Dr. Dodman, being the scientist he is, decided he wanted proof to see if this worked. In his study he had dogs who were aggressive and territorially aggressive. Half of each group was blindly given either the regular 23% protein or lower 18% protein.

Across the board the territorially aggressive dogs showed so much improvement Dr. Dodman wanted to stamp, "cured" on them. However, if their rations were changed back to a high-protein diet--their aggression returned. There were a number of aggressive dogs who responded positively to the low-protein diet as well.

***My friend let me know that within a day of changing the dog food to the natural brand I suggested that the gas issues her dog was having had changed. I also suggested the low-protein version since her dog has aggressive tendencies. The response was immediate on the change in gas. Her dog no longer has explosive digestive issues. I'm still waiting to hear back on the aggressive front.

As a side note: If you purchase your dog food from Pets Mart: Keep your receipt. If your dog doesn't like the food or it doesn't have the effect you'd hoped for, Pets Mart will take back the unused portion.

*I am not a vet and before changing your dog's diet you should consult your dog's vet

Multiple Dog Household--Can't we all just get along?

I recently had a case where I was called into a couple's home to help them with their dogs' door barking and house training issues. I helped Brian and Jan* with the problems I had been called for, but as is usually the case, I get to observe and hear about other challenges clients are having with their dogs.

Jupiter is the 8 year old male Dachshund mix who, other than the door barking, is as calm as an eggplant, and everyone knows eggplants are way calmer than those wackadoodle cucumbers. Tigger is a 10 month old male Dachshund rescue who has a bit more energy and lacks some manners, but he'd never be sent to the principal's office.

What was interesting was watching Jupiter and Tigger interact. Tigger would jump up on a person and Jupiter would try to bump him with his nose or body, nip at him or hump him. Brian and Jan told Jupiter to stop and they expressed how frustrated they were with Jupiter. Apparently Jupiter was often "picking" on Tigger like this. Sometimes it escalated into noisy fights, but neither dog was ever hurt.

"Does Jupiter jump on people?" I asked.

"Oh no," they both agreed. "He's so good, he knows not to do that. He's the perfect dog other than this picking on Tigger."

They said that Tigger still jumps up and they feel guilty because they know they encourage it because it's amazing how high he can jump.

This is where I always wish I had a monocle that I could theatrically remove from my face. "So Jupiter knows that jumping isn't allowed," I started, sans monocle, "But you let Tigger jump up without addressing it, you even encourage it?"

I explained that Jupiter is the older dog and had been in their home the longest, so he's the Alpha dog. Jupiter is trying to teach Tigger the house rules but he's not getting any support from the human pack members. He even gets admonished for his efforts. Of course the humans needed to establish leadership over the dogs, however it would be natural that Jupiter be next in line and Tigger be Omega dog (Alpha--first, Omega--last: It's all Greek to me).

This is not unfair to have a pecking order in the household. In what sane human household would the two year old have more control and say-so than the 18 year old? That would be ridiculous.

"No Tommy, let your baby brother scream and tear around the house like a banshee. Isn't that cute?"

Suddenly Brian and Jan no longer saw Jupiter's behavior as "bad," but that he was trying to help them train Tigger. With this new perspective, we watched as Tigger would jump up on me and Jupiter would move in between me and Tigger or try to redirect Tigger by getting him to play.

By looking at Jupiter's behavior under a different light, the couple had a new-found respect for Jupiter and praised him. They also decided to back his play and no longer allow Tigger to jump up. House rules would be the same for every dog.

"Your insights into our dogs were transforming. We are basically mellow people and understand that behavior doesn't just come out of the blue. For you to explain why our dogs behave the way they do will help us relate better to them." --Brian


*All names have been changed, dogs pictured not actual dogs. Story and quote is true and factual.