Dog Owner Question: Why are my dogs afraid of...?

Question:   Why are my 2 dogs afraid of thunder & gunshots & fireworks? My Pitie (Neutered male,5 years old) Shows signs of anxiety really bad, especially when the weather is going to change. He also gets so anxious he sometimes throws up. Also, I would like to know if there is any way on God's green earth that you can get a Black Labrador Retriever (Spayed Female 7 Years Old) from jumping on people when they come in the door. They go walking, but that pittie Is not a very good walker. He wants to sniff EVERYTHING & I mean EVERYTHING. They do not get along with other dogs whatsoever. I am A C-4 quadriplegic & they mostly stay in the house with me. However, they do have a doggy door & a fenced in backyard so they have freedom to go out by themselves & play.

Reply to  "Why are my 2 dogs afraid of thunder & gunshots & fireworks?":  To really know why a dog is afraid of something, would take some sort of psychic ability.   Logically however, we can assume that the dogs do not have any earthly idea of what those noises are.  WE know what they are, and therefore (unless someone has a phobia about it) we know not to be afraid of it.   Dogs also have much better hearing than we do, so to them it must be much louder than to us.

Here is an interesting article that I found about dog senses.

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/dogsenses.htm

Some dogs may just assume the worst from these noises, because they are just not used to them and do not experience them very often.   Some dogs may have had a traumatic experience regarding weather (one of my dog's was afraid of thunder only after experiencing a scary micro burst with us).


Reply to "is any way on God's green earth that you can get a Black Labrador Retriever (Spayed Female 7 Years Old) from jumping on people when they come in the door. ":
Yes, but it does not involve some quick trick.   You can get there by actively training your dog, and what will be especially important is a well trained sit stay.   In a well trained sit stay, there would be no way for the dog to jump on someone.   Something less than a well trained sit stay would not solve that of course.  There is also the relationship between the dog owner and dog to consider.  You want a team or partnership relationship to develop, and that takes more than a few training classes or sessions (and the homework that goes along with that).

Observations:  You have a lot going on in your home.   The best way to acquire another dog, is to be sure everyone else has been trained up to a standard first.  Of course not everybody knows that or does that.   Another thing that jumped out at me is that while they have a doggy door and backyard, they have no structure.  So with that sort of freedom and no guidance, they are going to be making decisions for themselves.   We are seldom going to be happy with decisions dogs make on their own with no human guidance.  Because they are mostly in the house with you, they are lacking social experiences to make them more balanced dogs.   It may be your best bet to get some professional training guidance, especially someone who has trained with people who have disabilities.   You may need the professional trainer to do some up front work with your dogs first to make the beginning part easier on you, and then train you on how to maintain it.   There are probably several ways of doing this with you.   Many of those issues are a lack of working with you, and making that change in your relationship to that of a partnership.

I hope some of this answers your questions and helps:)

If you are reading this article and you have questions about your dog's behavior or dog training, please just submit this form.   

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Dog Owner Issues: Dogs that are fearful of humans

This is Mandy who was almost rehomed many years
ago due to her aggressive behaviors brought on
by her fear.   She's gone on to enjoy her life with her
owner of that time (the owner paid for her training
with the thought of rehoming her after trained.  It was
realized that Mandy was very easy to handle after training.

Dogs can be fearful of many things.  One thing that dogs can be fearful of are humans.   This can manifest itself in a few different ways.   Some canines can be fearful of other family members or friends of the family.   That is people that they do see sometimes but not a lot of.   Also it can happen that they bond very closely to one family member, but distrust other family members.   In some rescue cases especially (but not limited to), a dog can be fearful of their own owner.  Some dogs are fearful only of strange people.   That is people they have never seen or met before (and usually a dog distrustful of other familiar people, will also be distrustful of strangers).   Dogs can also develop a fear to people who come and go, like delivery men or utility people, as they get the sense that they can chase them away.  So each time the person comes, they feel they bark and then the person goes away like they want them to.

A dog that is fearful of people is the dog that may bite someone at some point.   Often, the trigger that will make them bite is if they feel trapped and/or cornered.   What usually happens is a human does not take the vocalized warning to heart, and instead continues to advance.   A fearful dog is not a dog that is likely to come at the front of you, unless you make them feel trapped.   They are more likely to bite you if you walk away however, because the back of you is less threatening.   Also by making you retreat, it does make them feel a little braver.   Another thing that can make them feel a little braver and more likely to lash out, is if their owner is in close proximity to them.

The good news is, most fearful dogs can improve a lot and do great with training and/or behavioral modification.  It is a different issue if there is a medical or pain component involved.   Training a dog with a terminal or temporary pain problem is more complex.    Most fearful dogs do just fine, and you can often get them to a point where the owner may forget (later on) that they had an issue at all!

As you can imagine, this can be quite perplexing to a dog owner trying to solve this problem for their dog.   Here are the issues that can make this tricky for your average dog owner:

1. A dog that bites a human is one that is going to be in big trouble.   So how do we go about making that not an issue as we train?
2. Obviously, the dog owner will not want to jeopardize another in training their dog to relax and start to trust humans.
3. If a dog being close to the owner might lash out, you obviously do need to be close in the beginning to control the dog.   So how to do that without endangering anyone?
4. How and where do you begin a training plan and behavioral modification plan?

Well dog training in general can fill many books and DVDS, so the total answer will not be in this article.   I can however give you some tips and suggestions that will make understanding how to go about this clearer.  

1. Safety:   Safety of everyone should be the foremost concern when going forward with a training plan for a fearful dog.   That is going to vary from dog to dog.   Common sense items are don't allow your dog to be loose and making their own decisions around people they are fearful of, be sure you have a way to contain your dog quickly and safely for unexpected issues (doorbell ringing et), locking doors so people can't just unthinkingly barge into your house is always a good idea (humans never listen to directions OR read the note you left on the front door),
2. Handlers:  Handlers should be the person the dog trusts the most at first.   If the dog is being trained by a dog professional and not a family member, the dog trainer should be very well versed in handling fearful dogs and managing a pack (and other humans) around the dog.
3. Behavioral modification:   Behavioral modification and dog training can intersect at points.   The general difference between behavioral modification to dog training, is that behavioral modification does not rely on taught and trained commands to communicate with the dog.  Behavioral modification with a fearful dog includes things like teaching them how to chill or relax in a situation that may provide them some slight (at first) anxiety, controlling the environment to only allow what that dog can handle, structure to create a predictable environment, and non verbal teaching the dog that they can come close to the handler.
4. Training:  Training is a way where humans can teach their dogs to understand and perform commands.   This helps a dog in a number of ways.   One way is that it starts to make things very predictable for the fearful dog.   Another way, is that the dog starts to learn what the dog owner needs them to do in situations.   Often, dogs have no idea what we are "hoping" they will do.   It's up to us to teach them how we need them to act.   Once they get good at this, they start to learn how to relax and take our lead in situations.   There needs to be defined goals and standards in training in order to get this done as well as possible.
5. Experience:   While improvement often happens in a timely manner, none of the above are quick fixes.  There are no quick fixes.   Your dog needs to learn through experience that each time an anxious situation occurs, and you both follow the protocols, that everything ends up fine and nothing bad happened.   This happens over time, and is dependent on the quality and quantity of things you can expose them to (safely of course).   The experience also extends to the dog owner, and having the owner learn through experience about their dog.   A dog owner will gain confidence through a training and behavioral modification plan about how their dog is likely to react.   Knowing this allows for tweaks in the plan, and more confidence on the part of the owner.  It's also important to get the dog owner over the hump, as often they have begun to feel anxious over their dogs fear issues.
6. Patience:   Dogs are pretty forgiving of human mistakes.   However, a dog owner does not want to move their dog too quickly forward.   That can be risky to everyone.   You need to have patience, and the ability to read your dog and their readiness to move forward.   It is not a race to get there.   That will leave too many training and behavioral holes behind you that are bound to bite you (or someone else) in the butt.   So patience is a definite virtue with a fearful dog.
7. Environmental control/being the ambassador for your dog:  Environmental control has to do with knowing the environment you will be training (or hanging out in), and having a plan/protocol for things most likely to happen.   So everyone with a fearful dog most likely runs into the person that feels they "know" dogs and all dogs like them.   They want to test this out on your dog.   This makes many dog owners feel embarrassed if they can not offer up their dog as the nice friendly guy or gal they know at home.  It is the handler's job to not allow this in the beginning or at any time before the dog is ready and has been proofed.   If you feel in your bones this is not going to go well and you have not experienced it going well in prior controlled circumstances, DO NOT allow the stranger to approach.   You may have to get quite nasty to the stranger, and it might be embarrassing.   Just remember you are doing it for your canine companion, and so that they can begin to trust people.   This won't happen if your dog can not trust you to be looking out for them.
8. Lead through example:   Dog owners often become anxious after unsuccessfully working with their fearful dog.   It's important for a dog owner or handler to mask their own fearful state.   You want to work your dog calmly, deliberately, business like, and also friendly and acknowledging their good work or calm state.   Not rushing forward too fast is one way of developing the confidence of an owner or handler in this situation.   The more success you both have as a team, the more confident and accomplished you become.

I hope those bullet points help you understand a little about the process for giving a fearful dog more confidence and therefore starting to eliminate the fear.    Aggressive behaviors often come about because a dog feels fear.   There can be other reasons as well, but fear seems to be the most common.  It is also one of the easier behavioral problems to deal with, if you know how and have devised a solid plan.

Any canine behavior or training questions can be sent to this e-mail.   You can also submit a canine behavior or training question through this form.  

Authored by:  Mannerly Mutts Dog Training and Robin Rubin, head dog trainer and owner

http://mainedogtrainer.com

Question from a Dog Owner: Is this play or aggression?

Question:   " I have an 18 mo old dog that I simply cannot break of jumping. He is large and powerful and even when I turn my back to him he continues to jump, sometimes even biting my ponytail. Is this aggression or play? I feel like he is playing but it REALLY hurts."

Answer:  Regarding is this aggression or play, it sounds like play.   An 18 month old dog is usually still a puppy although an older and larger adolescent.   As puppies grow up, they don't know the rules for appropriate human play without some training or guidance.   Your dog is most likely excited, has a lot of pent up energy, and is visiting this unwanted play on you.

In addition to finding it fun to go after your ponytail, large adolescent or untrained adult dogs can do the other things as "play", in their eyes:

1. Jump on you or tag you at the top of stairs or icy grounds (dangerous for obvious reasons).
2. Jump up and hit your eye socket hard with their nose (closed mouthed).  Or sometimes they hit your nose which hurts worse.
3. Try to pull you off something like a bike with their teeth.
4. Tug, bite, and tear at your clothes.
5. Play tug of war with the lead you are trying to walk them on.
6. Hard nips bordering on bites during exciting play.
7. And so forth

When dogs do these sort of things, they are not trying to be aggressive (in most cases) but engage you in the only way they know how.  It's up to the dog owner to change that.

Although something may be normal or typical for a dog to do, that does not mean it should continue.  Anything that is potentially harmful to the owner or public, whether it is intended or so or not, should be stopped and redirected.

Jumping isn't simply broken.   Training needs to happen for those behaviors to be diverted and changed to something else.   Training provides a means of communication and partnership between a dog owner and their canine companion.   It also allows for a relationship to develop where there is more understanding through increased interaction on both sides.

Trying to figure this out by researching online or through books right now will probably only hold you up from your goal of a better relationship with your dog, although that is an option.   I would suggest that you find a dog trainer that can help you learn to teach your dog some better behaviors:)  There is no real quick fix tip that I can give you that would be reliable in the long run.   However, I would suggest the basics in obedience, and to also find play outlets that your dog enjoys that do not encourage jumping (tracking, tricks, hiking, et).   Combining both of these objectives together, will give you a more complete plan.

This will make life so much more enjoyable for yourself and your dog in the long run (and probably the short run as well).


Have a question about your dog?  Please either e-mail us at mannerlymutts.rubin@gmail.com or use the contact form (bottom of page) on mainedogtrainer.com!   We are always looking for real life blog topics to talk about and answer.