Tag Archives: dogs

04/10/12

Dog-Dog Aggression (Dunbar)

This post is part of the series in response to Dunbar’s 2012 Australian seminars. See index.

Dog-dog aggression is harder to prevent that dog-human aggression, but luckily it’s more ‘livable’.  That is, a dog that hates people is hard to live with.  A dog that hates other dogs will probably be perfectly fine and happy living at home with minimal or no walks (and arguably, most dogs live like this anyway).  For this reason, Dunbar believes that socialisation of a puppy to dogs is less important that socialisation to people.  In the period from 9-12 weeks, dog-dog socialisation is not a priority.

In an off-leash puppy class at 3 months, most dog-dog issues are easily ‘fixed’.  If dogs are struggling with dog interactions in a couple of weeks, they can go to extra classes with a younger group of puppies (i.e. a scared puppy can learn to be confident around younger, small puppies) or with older puppies (i.e. a ‘bully puppy’ will soon be put in his place by older, larger puppies).  That is, a large facility running numerous puppy classes of different ages, can probably find the ‘right’ group of puppies (or young adult dogs) for a nervous or confident puppy to interact with, in order to teach that puppy appropriate interactions.

 

Two border collie puppies playing.

It’s important for puppies to socialise with other dogs and puppies to learn appropriate interactions from an early age.

Continue reading →

04/7/12

Fearful Dogs (Dunbar)

This post is part of the series in response to Dunbar’s 2012 Australian seminars. See index.

In the seminar, Dunbar asked us what we were afraid of. People called out common fears like spiders, enclosed spaces, and speaking in public (along was the less common fear of “tree roots”), and from these suggestions Dunbar presented a scenario:

Imagine you are going to take an elevator that is damp and smelly, and made of tree roots, and full of spiders. It’s going to take you to the highest floor of the building, where you will deliver a public address – naked. And then base jump.

Now, if your fear is not spiders or tree roots, incorporate your own fears into the story. I am terrified of bees, and imagining getting into a lift of bees is a terrible idea to me.

And then consider: Fearful dogs are living with this very real fear, everyday. It’s not fair when we accept dog fears as “Oh, he’s scared of men” and “Yeah, she doesn’t like visitors”. It is not fair to ‘let it be’, for dogs to experience these very real fears on a daily basis. Instead, a dog’s fears should demands fixing. The solution is normally classical conditioning.

 

Rottweiler being hugged.

Hugging dogs is a bite risk, so dogs should be desensitised to the sensation. Photo © Ruthless Photos.

Treating Fear Issues

Treating fear issues in dogs is much the same as prevention protocols – That is: A bunch of classical conditioning. However, for an adult dog, it takes more time and is more dangerous. Dunbar believes we spend too much time trying to diagnose ‘why’ with aggressive dogs, but the majority of aggression problems are fear based. For that reason, he suggests the same treatment protocol and that we should ditch trying to figure out ‘why’.

Food is crucial when treating aggression. Normally, aggressive dogs do not find being patted or spoken to rewarding (especially if people are the source of their fear!), so classically conditioning with food is, what Dunbar called, “the only way”.

For Dunbar, treating a fearful dog involved giving them a bunch of food for interacting with people, and for tolerating their body to be touch (desensitisation).

Dogs often bite when they are touched on their collar, ears, mouth, feet, anus, when given a hug, or given a ‘kissy face’ (staring a dog in the eyes while holding their cheeks in your hands). For safety reasons, dogs should be desensitized to these interactions in order to reduce the likelihood of bites. This goes for all dogs, not just those that are fearful.

 

Further reading: McGreevy on Classical Conditioning

04/2/12

Dog Breeders: Don’t Produce Lemon Puppies

This post is part of the series in response to Dunbar’s 2012 Australian seminars. See index.

Dunbar is big on socialisation, and thinks that breeders should put a lot of effort and attention to socialising their puppies.  While breeders will select the best genetic combination, socialisation and training will seek to fix any deficiencies in the genetic package.  He thinks many breeders are ‘not doing their job’ and are producing ‘lemon’ puppies.  Good breeders, through socialisation, produce puppies that like being handled and like all people.

Pregnant border terrier with red ball.

Clover: Pregnant but active.

Puppy buyers need to know that all breeders are not created equal, even if producing pedigree dogs.  A pedigree is not a socialisation history, and (to Dunbar) a socialisation history is more important than their pedigree.

Breeders are responsible for training puppies until they are 8 weeks old.  They should be selling well-socialised, housetrained, and chew-toy trained puppies.  (And if they are, they can charge twice as much for one – Dunbar’s motivator to breeders!)  By 8 weeks, the critical period is half over! So breeders really need to be doing something.

A puppy that is exhibiting fearful behaviour at 8 weeks or earlier is problematic.  At 8 weeks, a puppy should run up to all people – men, women, and children. Continue reading →

03/28/12

Incentives to breed more greyhounds?!

I was alarmed to read today, through Maggie’s Farm, that the Victorian Minister for Racing, Denis Napthine, has bumped the winning incentives for greyhound breeders to $30 million annually (through a new scheme).  To say I was horrified is putting it mildly.  Already, a colossal number of greyhounds (19 000) are destroyed each year as surplus to the industry, and a scheme such as this one is surely going to encourage the disposal of a huge number of greyhounds each year.

Fawn greyhound playing with a squeaky toy.

Finn, my current greyhound foster, playing with a squeaky toy. Greyhounds make great pets!

Imagine in the government removed all contributions to racing prize money (that is, less $30 million +) and instead putting that money into the greyhound adoption groups.  Potentially, these groups could rehome all these dogs!  If we say, on a generous sum, adoption groups spent $700 per grey to get them ready for adoption, that would only be $13 million (for all 19 000 greys currently killed a year). Perhaps the remaining sums could be used for enforcing welfare legislation regarding greyhound kennelling, and funding the wages of all individuals involved in improving welfare outcomes for greyhounds caught up in the racing industry.

Note: I do not find the lure coursing of greyhounds and other dogs all the abhorrent. Greyhounds and other dogs love to run, and lure coursing is a fun way for them to practice running.  My issue stems from an industry that treats their companion animals as commodities, and disposes of them as such.

Please consider writing a letter to Mr Napthine regarding his support of a greyhound industry that kills 95% of the dogs bred. Below, his contact details and a letter that I wrote regarding this issue. (You’re welcome to use all or parts of my letter in yours.)

denis.napthine@parliament.vic.gov.au (open email client)
Ministerial Office – Phone (03) 9095 4170
Electorial Office/ Warmambool – Phone (03) 5562 8230

94 Liebig Street,
Warrnambool VIC 3280

Or use the ‘ask’ form on Denis’s website. Continue reading →

03/27/12

Praise Kongs!

This post is part of the series in response to Dunbar’s 2012 Australian seminars. See index.

You didn’t have to be at Ian Dunbar’s seminar long to understand that Dunbar had a pretty big crush on Kong toys!  To me, I think he was a bit biased – I think there’s a bunch of other chew toys highly appropriate for a similar purpose.  But Dunbar mostly focused his attention on Kongs.

He suggested that every household, especially puppy households, should have Kongs, and advised that the largest dog in the household should determine the size of the Kong.

Brittany chewing a toy.

Photo © Ruthless Photos.

Why use Kongs?

Dogs who eat Kongs will automatically perform a bunch of desirable behaviours (and cease to display undesirable behaviours) by being given a Kong that serves as a distraction of sorts.

When dogs are eating from a Kong, they can’t be barking, they’re normally laying down, and the motion of eating decreases their stress.  Eating from a food toy increases a dog’s confidence in being alone.  Basically, they reduce behaviour problems by training your dog to create ‘good habits’.

Dunbar also argues that Kongs increase food drive, and encourage the dog to only chew ‘food wielding items’ (summed up in, “Why would I chew the furniture? It doesn’t have food in it.”). Continue reading →