Common Behaviour Myths
May 9th, 2009 Posted in UncategorizedThere are quite a few myths about dog and cat behaviour out there. Here are a few of the common ones I hear:
1/ My dog is timid because he was abused as a puppy.
A dog’s (and cat’s) personality is affected by genetics as well as its environment. Many dogs are shy because they are, well, shy. Sure, there are cases where a dog is fearful due to previous mistreatment, but more dogs are that way because they inherited that personality, or because they weren’t properly socialized as puppies.
If you have an overly timid dog, it’s important you do something about that fear before the behaviour gets out of hand. The longer it persists, the harder it will be to reverse. If you’ve adopted a dog that acts fearful, seek advice from your veterinarian or trainer as soon as possible.
2/ Puppies shouldn’t start obedience classes until they have had all of their shots.
The critical age for socializing puppies is when they are 4 to 14 weeks of age. Since their last puppy inoculations are given at 4 months of age, if you wait until then to expose them to other puppies, noises and people, it’s harder to teach them not to be afraid. Puppy classes are usually held in a clean, controlled environment, so it’s okay to take them before they’ve finished their vaccination series.
3/ All aggressive dogs are dominant.
Actually, fear aggression is far more common that dominance aggression. Dogs that resist going into their crate, having their nails trimmed, or being groomed are usually just afraid, not necessarily dominant. Unfortunately, dominance aggression is over-diagnosed, and using the wrong training methods to treat fearful dogs can do more harm than good. Just imagine using force and gruffness on an animal that is terrified. Wouldn’t you be more frightened afterwards?
If a dog is truly dominant, asking the dog to respond to a command before receiving any attention, food or walks is the safest and most effective way to teach it who’s boss. The dog learns in a gentle way that there’s no “free lunch”; it needs to act submissive to its owner in order to get what it wants.
Fear aggression is treated by pairing something pleasant such as food or petting with a mild version of the stimulus that frightens it, and slowly working up in intensity over a period of several weeks.
4/ My dog knows he did something wrong. See his guilty expression!?!
Dogs react in a way that makes them look guilty when they sense our anger. A dog will lower its head, tuck in its ears and tail, and avoid us to say “Ok, I’m submitting to you so please don’t be mad. I don’t know why you’re upset with me, but you’re the boss, ok?”
Don’t believe me? Try this experiment: Leave your house, then sneak back and dump a bunch of garbage all over the kitchen and leave again. Come home at your normal time and see what your dog does. If she has seen the mess, she’ll act guilty. Why? Because she has come to associate garbage on the floor with your anger.
Punishments applied any more than two seconds after a negative behaviour don’t work and just confuse the animal. It just teaches your dog that humans are unpredictable and scary.
Where can you go for accurate information on behavioural problems in animals? Your veterinarian is a good start. If he or she doesn’t have the answers, she can refer you to a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviourists (a veterinarian who specialize in treating behaviour problems) or a Certified Applied Animal Behaviourist who post-graduate training in the field of animal behaviour. For tips on how to select a trainer and great articles, see www.avsabonline.org.
