by Scotty Valadao
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“I have always had dogs and never taken them to puppy class, and they turned out fine, why should I start now?”
What we often fail to realize is that the times that we are living in now, are very different from what they were when we were younger. Why? You may ask. Let’s take a look:-
Fencing
Not that many years ago houses were normally fenced with a wire or low fence or even with no fence at all. This allowed the dogs to see the comings and goings in the street and interact with both people and other dogs. Nowadays, the majority of houses have five to six foot walls surrounding them, and often no view for a dog to look out. Just imagine the frustration that a dog must feel when he can smell and hear things on the other side of the wall but cant look at them?
Working Mum’s
When I was a school child we rode our bicycles to and from school and had friends over to play. There were always people coming and going. In today’s environment, with many mum’s working, this just does not happen as often. How does that affect our dogs? They don't get to meet and interact with people of different ages and as such are not used to them. When we do have children over to play, or have visitors, the dog often gets so excited and uncontrollable that they are shut in a separate section of the garden, which raises their frustration levels even more.
Let’s examine this aspect even further. A working mum has her hands full not only with work, there are children to be taken to and from school, shopping, homework to be checked and supper to be cooked etc. Where is the time for the dog? Dogs nowadays are often left all day long with little or no amusement in the way of company, toys and chewies, and often resort to their own devices, with disastrous results. Owners often buy a second dog to keep the original dog company hoping to remedy the situation. All this achieves is the new dog starts to mimic the existing dogs behaviour and double trouble ensues.
Exercise
Once again when I was a child, and I am not going to say how many years ago that was! We would take our dogs with us to the local park. Today it is just not safe to go to your local park, even with a dog with you, and if you do not live near a safe walking area, the only alternative is to travel to one which is not always possible. When I recommend to clients that they take their dogs out for a walk they often say ‘why, we have a huge garden for them to run around in’. What we fail to realize is that dogs have a sense of smell which is in the region of forty times more developed than humans. A dog needs the stimulation of outside walks not just for the physical stimulation, but also for the mental stimulation it provides. Believe you me, a dog knows every blade of grass and plant in your garden. How would you feel if you spent your life inside four walls and never got to visit the local shops?
What often happens when owners do take a dog out that is seldom walked is that the dog pulls on the lead like the proverbial train. Can you blame him, there is so much to smell and investigate that he is beside himself. This leads to an unpleasant experience for the owner and as such the walks become less and less. A dog that does not go out often may exhibit behaviours such as digging and destructive behaviour, a bit like us ‘climbing the walls’ from boredom and frustration or having ‘cabin fever'.
Stress
As wonderful and beneficial as progress and development has been to the human race over the last 10 to 20 years, it has also had negative effects. We live a much more stressful existence than we did before. There is the fear of hi-jacking and break-in’s, and less time for R & R. As tension from our body travels down the lead to the dog, so to do the tensions we experience in our every day lives affect our dogs. For a dog that is kept within 4 walls, receives little or no exercise, lacks socialization, then the stress levels just skyrocket which results in behavioural concerns.
Puppies
Not that many years ago, owners were discouraged from taking their puppies out until they had received all their inoculations at about 4 months of age. However, what wasn't’t taken into account is that puppies have ‘a window of opportunity’ between the ages of 4 to 16 weeks of age. During this period a puppy can be introduced to, and accept, virtually any situation. After this period, the ‘window’ closes and the puppy goes into a fearful phase , resulting in the puppy finding it harder and harder to accept new situations and people. Pups should start puppy class a week after their first inoculation, at around 8 weeks of age and attend until they are 16 weeks old. Dr. I Dunbar, the internationally renowned behaviourist and vet, recommends that the socializing starts from 3 weeks of age while the puppy is still with the mother.
It has been proven that puppies who have attended puppy class are less likely to develop behavioural problems at a later stage. Not just due to the early experience they had, but that their owners have been educated to understand their dog’s natural behaviour and have learnt how to cope with the changes that will take place as the adolescent stage arrives.
Owners often take their pups to puppy class and then do not take the training further, believing that their job is done. Yes, you have done an excellent job by exposing your dog to puppy class, but it doesn't’t stop there. The average age group for dogs being left with welfare shelters is between 6 to 18 months, the adolescent stage when behavioural concerns often occur. Adolescent dogs require frequent positive social interactions to maintain and develop their self-confidence and social skills.
Adolescent Dogs
Many people only start taking their pups to obedience classes around 5 – 9 months of age when help is needed. Where has that cute little pup gone and who has been left in its place? A bundle of mischief that could be likened to the story ‘The Cat in the Hat' and seems to invent behaviours to drive you mad!
Imagine what the adolescent dog that has never gone to puppy class or been exposed to other dogs and people feels like on his first day at obedience class - a bit like a child attending the first day of school and never having had the advantage of nursery school I would imagine. This experience often results in a fearful dog. A fearful dog is not necessarily a dog that cowers and shakes – it is more often than not the dog that exhibits aggressive/reactive behaviour. This behaviour is the dogs way of saying “I can’t cope, help!” and is often misread by owners and instructors and the dog mistakenly becomes ‘labeled’ as aggressive/reactive and gets to go out even less. Dogs show their reaction to fear and stress by exhibiting one or more of the 5 F’s – fight, flight, fooling around, freezing and in extreme cases, fainting. If we do not recognize what our dog’s behaviour indicates, then how can we help them to overcome it? It is due to circumstances such as above that i decided to stop doing group sessions and concentrate on one-on-one sessions. For info on private lessons link her: Private Lessons
We often take the good social behaviour that a dog exhibits for granted when they meet other dogs. Take advantage of this and praise your dog for exhibiting good social graces. Reward from the owner by way of praise or a treat after your dog exhibits good social behaviour is more likely to reinforce the good social behaviour.