learning dog behaviors
Learning dog communication is a difficult task for many. Most make it through the dog owning experience without ever really having to concern themselves with it. Learning how dogs communicate is a most effective tool in having a well mannered companion.
Many people consider that their dog thinks like a person. While they are very in tune to their owners they certainly do not think like them. They do sense many things within their owners such as stress, fear and disappointment. I have heard so many people say "I yelled at him for doing (whatever) and he sulked away, he knows what he did" That is far from the case. He knows you are not happy but has no clue why.
Dogs react in many ways, they can be submissive, fearful, bold or protective. It is up to you as the owner to identify with the dogs behavior and bring a balance to the situation. Submissive urination is a grand example of a dog that may be fearful or over stimulated. Generally very easy to work with if you identify the source.
Resource guarding is quite apparent in our breed but often goes unrecognized by owners. This is an unacceptable behavior that often leads to acts of aggression. Dogs should never be allowed to growl at humans in order to protect a space or possession. Dogs should learn very early on that the human controls all things including space, toys, treats and food. To allow this behavior to continue only gives the dog more status in the home and encourages bolder behavior.
Reactivity to loud or moving objects is another favorite activity of our enchanted breed. While some may find it most amusing this is a behavior that often intensifies with time. Corgis seem to be turned on by vacuum cleaners, weed eaters, running children and other objects. Stopping this behavior immediately will lessen the chances that you will have an over exciteable or reactive dog. One must remember that we may have our dog in many situations during his life and the better able we are to control his reactions the more "welcome" we will be.
Structuring is a wonderful tool in the dog world. They do well to have a basic routine and have expectations. I think all dogs should experience at least a basic obedience class. I think all owners should make these commands a part of a dogs every day world. We need to learn to request a behavior and to end a behavior. This makes the dog owning experience much better for all involved. Most dogs love nothing more than interacting with their owners. Teaching them commands and tricks is a wonderful tool for creating an everlasting bond. I think we all love a dog that is well behaved, reliable and predictable. Adding obedience commands in their daily life is as easy as asking for a sit, down, shake or whatever command you know whenever you interact. This makes for a most responsive and connected dog.
We receive many dogs in our program that are the victim of no training or rules. Some backgrounds we receive are horrid. We learn most come around very quickly in a home that provides exercise and rules.
Many people consider that their dog thinks like a person. While they are very in tune to their owners they certainly do not think like them. They do sense many things within their owners such as stress, fear and disappointment. I have heard so many people say "I yelled at him for doing (whatever) and he sulked away, he knows what he did" That is far from the case. He knows you are not happy but has no clue why.
Dogs react in many ways, they can be submissive, fearful, bold or protective. It is up to you as the owner to identify with the dogs behavior and bring a balance to the situation. Submissive urination is a grand example of a dog that may be fearful or over stimulated. Generally very easy to work with if you identify the source.
Resource guarding is quite apparent in our breed but often goes unrecognized by owners. This is an unacceptable behavior that often leads to acts of aggression. Dogs should never be allowed to growl at humans in order to protect a space or possession. Dogs should learn very early on that the human controls all things including space, toys, treats and food. To allow this behavior to continue only gives the dog more status in the home and encourages bolder behavior.
Reactivity to loud or moving objects is another favorite activity of our enchanted breed. While some may find it most amusing this is a behavior that often intensifies with time. Corgis seem to be turned on by vacuum cleaners, weed eaters, running children and other objects. Stopping this behavior immediately will lessen the chances that you will have an over exciteable or reactive dog. One must remember that we may have our dog in many situations during his life and the better able we are to control his reactions the more "welcome" we will be.
Structuring is a wonderful tool in the dog world. They do well to have a basic routine and have expectations. I think all dogs should experience at least a basic obedience class. I think all owners should make these commands a part of a dogs every day world. We need to learn to request a behavior and to end a behavior. This makes the dog owning experience much better for all involved. Most dogs love nothing more than interacting with their owners. Teaching them commands and tricks is a wonderful tool for creating an everlasting bond. I think we all love a dog that is well behaved, reliable and predictable. Adding obedience commands in their daily life is as easy as asking for a sit, down, shake or whatever command you know whenever you interact. This makes for a most responsive and connected dog.
We receive many dogs in our program that are the victim of no training or rules. Some backgrounds we receive are horrid. We learn most come around very quickly in a home that provides exercise and rules.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Amy on
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Very nice sam! I do have a question since u seem to be an expert on some issues :) How do u stop the dog from being so possessive of things? Bindi is only possessive of things she know she should have (like something she stole from the trash) We usually just take it with our foot and it gets attacked (not a hard bite just a like 'growling look how scary i am' kind of thing). Sometime i can tell her to drop it and she will, but it doesnt always work. She also likes to tell u to leave the room when shes eating. (we will walk by her and she will let out a 'back off buddy' growl). Anyway to stop these behaviors? Like i said they mostly just a warning, shes never broken skin and she gives u plenty of warning before she will nip.
Thanks!
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Permalink Reply by Charlie on
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Hope you don't mind if I chime in, but Charlie was "resource guarding" food and toys when I first brought him home. He growled and got stiff over his food bowl, and growled or ran away from me if I tried to take a toy out of his mouth. Not in my house! It took about three days to break those bad habits.
The dog needs to see you (and other humans) as alpha pack leaders. The pack leader owns everything and graciously shares possessions with subordinate pack members. That means that you own the food and you own the toys. Bindi gets to eat or play when you choose and after working for it.
Because Charlie was initially food agressive, I quit putting his food bowl down. I taught him to sit and lie down, and hand fed him for obeying. Hand feeding makes the dog realize that you control the food. Making him "Sit" or "Down" is working for food. Once we had that down, I would put a few bites of food in the bowl, but held the bowl while he ate. After that, the bowl went back on the ground, but I would add a few pieces of food while he ate. That way he saw my hand in the bowl adding food...which was a good thing to him. In about three days, he quit resourse guarding his food. Now when I feed him, he has to "Sit", "Down" and "Wait" until I say "Free" to come eat. I can put my hand in his bowl or take his food bowl away without him getting upset. That's the goal.
With toy guarding, I put all the toys out of reach, and offered them to him when I wanted to play. If he growled at me for trying to take a toy, I would get another toy or food treat to "Trade" so that he would drop the toy I wanted. I would put that first toy away (ending the play with that toy at my choosing). Once he learned to "Trade" and "Give" he got the toy back to play with. Growling made the toy disappear; sharing got the toy back to him. It was also about three days before he quit toy guarding. He actually brings me toys hoping to get something better. LOL Now I can leave all his toys out for him, but if he were to regress the toys would go back out of reach. With Bindi stealing trash (or socks, or anything she isn't supposed to have) try "Trading" for a toy she is allowed to have. Then "Trade" that for another (better) toy or tasty treat. "Trading" teaches them that if they give you one thing, they get something better. Once "Trade" is mastered, then "Give" should be fairly easy. She gets the toy back for giving it to you. It goes away if she growls.
You don't want to let her get away with a warning growl. This is putting her at a higher level in the pack. If she gets too confident with the warning growls working, she may escalate to biting later. I'm sure Sam can add some useful ideas here too.
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Thanks! we'll definitely try Hand feeding and the "trade" command. It's funny cuz she doesnt do it with her toys. shes fine if we take them, its just trash, socks, underwear! lol.
Thanks for the suggestions, we'll def try this when we get home :)
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Permalink Reply by Brian Davis on
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I have done what you did with Charlie and the food .Brynn was growling at me when she first came to live with me . Now she will lay down and wait for it . I also feed her from my hands every now and then so she remembers where it came from. As far as the toys , i don't have that problem thank goodness. :) I read it was good to have your scent on her food .
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I think it is a good idea to have your scent on their food. When I scoop Charlie's food, I toss it a bit with my hand so it has my scent.
Also for anyone having food aggression issues, you always want to eat first, then feed the dog. In dog packs, the alpha dog always eats first then the rest of the pack essentially gets the leftovers. So if you put food in your dog's bowl, then you sit down to eat, you are putting the dog in the leader position.
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Permalink Reply by Sam on
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Cant add anything to Charlies reply. Splendid! What is important here is that we learn that the dogs are not allowed to growl at us or possess anything from us...........ever. I know many seem to find the growling behavior amusing but fact is it will progress. Many dogs that land in our program were dogs such as these and children arrived in the family. Out goes the dog that snarls at the child.
In the basic obedience class I used to teach I used to tell my students that while we all have a different level of acceptable behaviors from our dogs we should train our dogs in a fashion that if for some reason they were rehomed that they would get along in most any setting. This seemed to make sense to many.
Regarding who eats first it is true in an actual pack but I dont think dogs in a family setting really have a clue who eats first. The mindset falls that we should lead everything our dog does. Some people really have a much understanding if we share this information. The theory is that our dog should learn to look to us before going in and out of doorways, getting on furniture, attention before treats of meals. So quickly people fall in the habit of merely pleasing their dogs every whim and this can be the beginning of many problems. Dogs are most aware of the control they hold.
You can bet living in a home with six resident dogs the rules have to be hard and fast. We frequently have a foster pal here as well and they too need to learn the rules.
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Permalink Reply by Florence Fong on
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Hi Sam,
I really need help on this one. My Ritz is almost 2 years old. As recent as 1-2 weeks ago, he has been showing some aggresive behavior whenever I unleash him after a walk. My parents are able to unleash him but I just don't understand why he would not allow me to unleash him. I bought him when he had turned 3 months old and all that time he had allowed me to unleash him. The other time was in late March, 2008 when he had a bacteria infection. He did not allow us near him by growling and snarling at us. Just this weekend, he bit my finger till it bled. I would really appreciate your comment in helping me understand Ritz's undesirable behavior. Many thanks!
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Knowing more background would be most helpful. Do you all live in the same home? Who does most of the handling of Ritz? Who feeds, grooms and generally spends most time with him? Does he have fearful behaviors? I can tell you that it is not uncommon for a corgi that lacks confidence to be reactive to someone going for his collar. Often times we think little about the interaction and approach the dog from the top with little warning of what we are going to do. Defensive/fearful dogs often react to this movement. What has worked for many of our rescue pals is to take time and prepare the dog for the interaction. When you arrive home from your walk take the time to just sit with him a moment. Approach him in a way he can see you. Give his chest a small pet for reassurance. Then calmly unlatch the lead. From your description I have a feeling he has other issues that you are just dealing with. Most dogs that would react this way do. Now would be a good time to assess any other behavior issues you may be seeing. Perhaps looking at a bigger picture would give us a better clue for some help.
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Hi Sam,
Thanks for your reply. Yes, we live in the same house. I take care and play with Ritz about 95% of the time. Have been doing so since I bought him when he was just over 3 months old, in October, 2006. We call him `The Fearless One' as he's not afraid of anything except for the garbage truck. The sound of keys, doorbell, phone ringing and motocycles will cause him to bark loudly.
If I were to try to pet him before taking off his leash, he would growl at me and even try to bite me. I tried talking to him in a soothing voice but it did not help. This behaviour just started about 1-2 weeks ago.
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His noise reactivity is a big clue here. I find that frequently dogs that are noise reactive also have some anxiety issues. They tend to be a bit more sensitive then others and a bit more anxious. If this is a sudden change in his behavior I may consider a good vet evaluation. Does he react this way any other time you handle him that does not include the leash? Does he have a good outlet for his exercise? Are you involved in any controled activities with him such as training, controlled fetch games? Sudden changes in behaviors would always encourage me look at his medical health first. If he allows I would give him an all over body feel to look for lumps, bumps or any possible sores that have gone unnoticed. I would also try to check his mouth/teeth. Abscessed teeth are most painful and may make a dog react when close to their mouth. Unpleasant breath is often the first sign. Keep us posted.
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Thanks Sam for your feedback. Other times when the leash is not involved, he's fine. During the past two evenings, when I put his bowl of food on the floor to feed him (30 minutes after his evening walk), he allowed me to unleash him (just like before these 2 weeks). A few days ago, I wanted to unleash him after his walk (it was more than an hour later after our return), he growled at me as I approached him. We take him for walks 4 times a day. He's free to roam around the house. Upstairs is out of bounds and he knows it. When he was 8 months old, we did sign up for obedience training. Health wise, he has been sick twice since we bough him at 3 months old. A week after we brought him home, he had a dry cough. I took him to the vet and he was as good as new in a couple of days. This year, in late March, he had bacteria infection. Again, he fully recuperated after a couple of days after medication.
I pet and stroke him everyday but there are no lumps or bumps as far as I know. His breadth is not unpleasant smelling.
By the way, what is abscessed teeth?
Would appreciate your feedback. Thanks!
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Dogs have dental problems much like people. Sometimes dog may have a broken tooth or have an infection of abscessed tooth. This is usually not apparent to us but very painful to the dog. Regarding your approach and his growl we are still missing something here. You may do well to do a journal of your interactions for a week or so. Be most observant of his behavior toward different people and situations. I am having to think there are more things that he is disagreeable about. Zoning in on the trigger is what we need to find to be helpful.
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