Recently we were just entering our country park when I heard a voice ahead of me that I had not heard for about two years. It instantly took me back to a conversation with the owner of the voice, when Ashla, our German Shepherd, was still with us. Now, just as then, his tone was loud and very sharp. As I entered the kissing gate, I was greeted by a wriggling, enthusiastic Spaniel, just as I had been on the previous occasion. And just as before, the owner shouted ”Here dog” in a very sharp tone. The dog responded and was pushed roughly into a down. He resisted, and was then pushed again. This time he stayed down, but there was no word of praise, no smile, no touch, nothing in fact to tell the dog that he had done what was required of him.
I had the most extraordinary feeling of déjà vu and bent to stroke the dog that was now lying flat, but wanting desperately to greet Caelen. There was no small treat to reward him for compliance, not even a word of praise, but at least this time he did not lift the dog off his feet by the scruff of his neck, dump him on the ground and push him into a down: perhaps because lifting a full grown dog is rather harder than a puppy. I held my tongue with difficulty, knowing from past experience that asking this man to praise or reward his dogs is met with scorn. His attitude is that dogs should do as they are told… instantly. Huh!
Punishment, whether it is mental or physical, is never acceptable in my view. The dog learns nothing good from it, but may well learn to fear the hands he should most trust. While a strong minded puppy may well recover quickly, a more sensitive one becomes steadily more anxious. That anxiety may escalate into the puppy attempting to run away, or his response may be to cower and urinate in submission. Anyone who has ever experienced a frightening situation will know that horrible feeling of helplessness and the desire to run.
Modern training methods are all reward based and they work. Of course, a dog trained by harsher methods will learn to comply, but the relationship will be based on fear rather than trust. Just as gentle training methods leave lasting memories for the dog, so do the less acceptable ones.
Why anyone should want to train a dog using harsh methods astonishes me. It is not only physical methods which are punishing – it can also involve the removal of any expected reward. That too is punishing. It may be more subtle than overt punishment such as smacking, pushing away, pulling on a choke chain, but nonetheless it is still punishing. Physical abuse is easy to recognise, but mental abuse such as the removal of an expected reward is just as cruel, perhaps more so since it is mental rather than physical. Just imagine how you would feel if just as you were about to pop a delicious cream cake into your mouth, a giant hand came over your shoulder, grabbed it and tossed it in the bin. You would almost certainly say “hey” or might perhaps make a grab for the goodie. Yet if a dog growls or snaps as a result of such treatment, he may well be labelled ‘vicious’.
Despite many advances in the way in which we train dogs these days, sadly there are still those who believe that their dog is being dominant when he fails to respond. I have always failed to understand how a dog can be termed “dominant”. Dominance relates to the rank control within a pack. It exists in order to promote survival of the pack, and to encourage cooperative hunting where every animal within the pack receives sufficient food to sustain life. In other words it ensures the continuance of the species. Thus it has no relevance to the relationship which exists between a dog and his family. However the term is often misused. An owner whose dog does not respond to cues, or perhaps sits tight when he has found a comfortable place on the sofa, may describe the dog as dominant, and there are certainly still some trainers and behaviourists who subscribe to the older theories
But is that realistic? WE decide what and when our dogs eat, where they sleep, when and how much exercise is given and even whether or not they are allowed to breed. That last is a fundamental of life, and in controlling each of those essential factors, we control all the elements of survival. How on earth can a dog ever be ‘dominant”? Under-trained – yes. Under-socialised – yes. Dominant? NEVER!
Rules
There is even a list of petty rules, sometimes referred to as pack rules, by which some still advise that dogs are trained. These, they say, will ensure that the dog never becomes dominant. These rules are often also advocated as the way to cure any problems which have arisen. Roughly these say that the dog should never be given attention if he comes and pushes his head under your hand. He should never be greeted when the owner returns home. No dog should initiate a game. Eat first before the dog is fed, even if it just a biscuit or two. Make sure that the dog is made to move rather than step over or walk round him. Go though each doorway or up and down stairs ahead of the dog. And last but not least, do not allow the dog to play tugging games and certainly never, never let him win.
Can you imagine the metal effort needed to ensure that you, the owner, never break one of these rules? There you are with an armful of shopping, dripping wet from a downpour of rain, and you must ignore the dog that comes to greet you, prevent him from going ahead of you into the kitchen, and put the shopping away before speaking to him or giving him a stroke. Stop for a moment and think what the mental effort will be of constantly ignoring a dog that comes to greet you. And how long before the dog begins to ignore you when you do speak to him? It has always struck me as being a great way to ensure that recalls are nonexistent. Would it not be better to greet the dog cheerfully, teach him a cue to settle down and then get on with unpacking the shopping?
No tugging?
Another of these rules insists that if the dog guards his bed, the owner should take the dog’s collar, move him off the bed and even sit in the bed himself – all to prove his supremacy. But the fact here is that if the dog is really overprotective of his possessions, his response to forcible removal may well be to snap or bite. How much easier – and safer – it is to give him the cue, lure him from his bed by offering a treat or toy, praising him for moving and rewarding him for moving with treat or toy. I always keep in mind too that if the dog really is ultra possessive, he may also become aggressive. Thus as the owner bends to pull or tip the dog from his bed, his face is very close to the dog’s jaw.
Good idea? Of course if a dog is really aggressive then seeking professional help to resolve this problem is essential.
Then we come to the old chestnut – never play tugging games! Tugging games are a wonderful energy burner and playing a game of tug with the dog does not lead to him thinking he is in charge of the household. The trick here is to teach a release cue, such as an “off” or “mine”. If the dog hangs on, then let go, walk away, say “game over” and go and do something else. It’s a daft dog that does not quickly learn that hanging on brings no rewards! I say “stop” when I want my dog to release the toy we are sharing. This was easily taught when he was a puppy – I just gave the cue, showed him something much tastier than an old rubber toy, and like any sensible dog, he let go and accepted the small treat. Once he readily released it, the treat was phased out and he simply responds to the word.
It’s no secret that my dogs have always slept upstairs with us. As puppies they have slept in a crate alongside my bed so that if they stirred in the night, they could be taken outside. House training was achieved in just a matter of days with each of the dogs that have shared our lives over the past twenty five years. Once reliable at night, they graduate to a large beanbag alongside my bed. We would consider it cruel to banish a human baby to sleep alone and cry for comfort, yet are often told that this is just how we should treat a canine baby. Dogs are such sociable animals, and as we choose to take them into our household, I can see no reason to banish them to a chilly kitchen floor.
There is a good deal of sense in the edict that dogs should not be allowed to go up or down stairs or through a door ahead of you… but it is not because letting them do so teaches them that they are rulers of the world! It’s all too easy to trip on the stairs when carrying an armful of laundry, or a toddler, upstairs. So if you are happy to have your dog upstairs, just teach him to wait at the bottom or at the top of the stairs, and call him to join you once you have reached ground level. Simple? Well, yes!
Last but not least, one of the old adages is that the family should be fed before the dog. If that suits your daily timetable, then that’s fine, but for most of us these days, members of the family may need to eat at different times. Personally it suits me to get my dog’s food ready first and give it to him before I start to prepare breakfast for us, and whatever needs preparing for our evening meal. If you have a household of several people, all vying for the bathroom and trying to get ready to go out a different times, mornings can be chaotic! Leaving the dog’s bowl on the worktop until everybody else is fed might well lead him to leap up in desperation!
Survival of the species
Of course, all these rules were originally based on wolf behaviours. But it’s a fact that research into wolf behaviour world-wide shows that wolves don’t actually adhere to these pack rules. For example, the young of the pack are always fed first, especially in lean times. That’s sensible if you think about it: it ensures the survival of the species. It’s true too that the dogs that share our lives are hugely different from their wild ancestors. Problems do at times rear their heads, and it may be necessary sometimes to bring about changes by using modern rewarding training methods. The trick is to teach the dog to live with his family in whatever way best suits that family, and that may be quite different from the way that suits the family next door.
Dee Woodcock
