It’s been a year since I’ve blogged—and I have a good reason! I took a full-time position as a Director of Pet Behavior at the North Shore Animal League America. There was and is a lot to take on so it was occupying my full attention. I have since been able to carve out some time to write again, because frankly, I missed it.
In this blog, I want to talk about a topic that is near and dear to me. Not just because of experiences with my dogs, but from what I see working in animal welfare. A dog can show anxiety and fear in different ways. Sometimes, it’s not obvious that the dog’s behavior is a symptom of fear.
For example, my dog, Marvel, a Jack Russell/Yorkie Terrier mix, displayed fear by barking, lunging, and charging in appropriately. I was actually contemplating not doing agility with Marvel because his reactivity was so bad. And I LOVE this dog performance sport. I am one of those people who uses vacation days to attend agility competitions and seminars.
Marvel’s reactivity showed up as alert barking and charging people and dogs. He was so sensitive to the environment that it seemed like his brain was exploding. At a seminar, two and a half years ago, Marvel actually left the training ring and charged a very large dog that was walking into the building. Thankfully, the other dog was a nice dog that was just startled by my little 7-pound Firestarter. I felt badly for anyone affected by Marvel’s behavior. I was also concerned about Marvel’s safety and mental health. The elevated levels of cortisol (stress hormone) and adrenaline were not healthy for him.
One year after I committed to working on Marvel’s reactivity, we attended our first agility trial. Marvel was a ROCKSTAR! I was thrilled with his ability to stay in the game and focus on me. And most importantly, he was HAPPY!! My personal goal is to try out for a World Team with Marvel by 2018, possibly even sooner. This wasn’t possible one year ago—it wasn’t even on the radar.
Dog training and behavior modification is an ongoing process with any animal. You are never done practicing skills. Just like training agility, you have to regularly work with your dog to maintain his skills and build his confidence. As an example, we had a setback a few months ago at a trial. Marvel was fast and focused when in the ring and moving from point A to point B around the trial arena when on leash. However, when playing off leash, fetching a ball, with the rest of my canine crew, Marvel did charge after a dog walking right by us. We were in a fenced-in area but because he is so small, he was able to slip under the fence. Fortunately, Marvel did not bite the other dog—only charged at her, barking. I felt badly that the dog and handler were startled. Although it was a personal blow and I felt terrible, I learned from it. I have worked hard with Marvel to teach him to have self-control in specific contexts but I hadn’t spent enough effort teaching him to generalize that self-control to other contexts. The only way to generalize his self-control is to work it in different contexts. I also recognize that Marvel is using all of his brain-power to play the agility game with me, so expecting him to be able to stay focused outside of the agility ring is probably really difficult for him. Now, Marvel stays on leash at trials and seminars unless we are in the ring.
Why am I sharing this? Because setbacks will happen. They are part of the journey. When it comes to modifying behavioral issues, we are never done. Be kind to yourself and learn from them. I am also sharing this personal example to help you understand how the canine brain works. If your dog understands a cue or behavior in one context, it doesn’t mean he will understand it in a different context—especially if you haven’t specifically trained him in that new situation. And of course, adding anxiety and stress make it even harder for the dog.
So the takeaway lesson here is ‘practice, practice, practice’ –forever! Yes, your dog’s behavior can improve and you will be able to breathe more easily…and remember to be mindful of how your dog needs your support in various situations.
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