Laika has been taught to not feel threatened when she has a covet resource such as a bully stick, marrowbone etc. when a person approaches her. So as a result we can confidently ask her to surrender an object – at least that was the case until she got very sick and eating was not
possible. Clearly food and food –related objects have acquired a new meaning for her.
I do not fully understand the medical side of this but it appears that Laika wants to eat but at the same time she is unable to do so because of severe nausea due to the cancer. A very painful scene indeed. At some point when she was still eating a bit, I gave her and Deuce a marrowbone. I approached her and to my surprise she sneered at me. Wow! She totally surprised me. I thought that perhaps it was not the proximity to her while she was nagging on the bone but because I was also petting her and that this was in some way painful.
Either way, I moved away from her. Thank you Laika! Message received. What a lot of people do when their dog sneers, growls as a result of protecting a resource from being taken away is to take it personal. If we can think on our feet and realize that it is perfectly normal for a dog to guard precious resources from others. When it comes to guarding from people (again, normal from the dog’s perspective) we do want to teach the dog that we are not a threat to them or that we actually want their stinky bones because displays of aggression such as sneering, air snaps and the like can very well turn into full-blown aggression. I guess it is also the case of dogs living in our world (and one more time) they have to learn to comply with our rules.
When people take their dog’s display of aggression personal and as a result they take it upon themselves to teach the dog who’s boss or that they should mind their manners the dog learns not to trust this person (or all people) around its precious resources. In other words the dog’s
fears materialized: They wanted a resource for themselves and the proximity of the person meant the resource was removed. Why not teach our dogs instead that the contrary is true: Whenever a person is in their close proximity when they are chewing on a bone, or eating dinner, it means that something even better will come their way! Now here is the good news.
Unless the dog is already actively guarding, there is a very easy and effective way to teach dogs that we do not want their precious possessions. The exercise works like this: If your dog has no history of guarding from you, when he/she is chewing, working a Kong or eating from a bowl walk by and give or throw inside the bowl something absolutely delicious- much better than what the dog is working on. Do this as a cold trial… as explained above and you will see that after a few days or weeks of this simple exercise your dog will even welcome your approach. You will see your dog looking at you (the source of the goodie) with adoring eyes confirming that you belong on that pedestal- his/her demeanor soft and relaxed, mouth open perhaps as she goes back to the task at hand and you go on your way.
Another effective way of teaching your non-guarding dog that you totally rock is to do a series of exchanges. Your dog has something that you rather he/she does not have, say a pair of expensive shoes (they are always the expensive ones…) approach your dog with calm body language while you present him/her with a tasty treat. In essence you are teaching your dog that when he/she surrenders “x” object they will get paid for their trust and efforts. Lastly, I have taught both our dogs that if I ask “give” for whatever reason they surrender only to find that they will get the chewy back a.s.a.p.
Now, if your dog is already guarding from you or anyone else, things are a bit trickier. I have worked with dogs that guard so ferociously that their amorous playful personality changes into a Cujo-like dog when in the presence of the resource they choose to protect. Not only do I want to keep the dog from practicing the behaviors that I want to replace for more appropriate ones, but it is plain dangerous to work with dogs who are guarders without some safety precautions in place. The protocol on how to deal with this volatile situation is elaborate and lengthy yet the success rate is high in most cases.
possible. Clearly food and food –related objects have acquired a new meaning for her.
I do not fully understand the medical side of this but it appears that Laika wants to eat but at the same time she is unable to do so because of severe nausea due to the cancer. A very painful scene indeed. At some point when she was still eating a bit, I gave her and Deuce a marrowbone. I approached her and to my surprise she sneered at me. Wow! She totally surprised me. I thought that perhaps it was not the proximity to her while she was nagging on the bone but because I was also petting her and that this was in some way painful.
Either way, I moved away from her. Thank you Laika! Message received. What a lot of people do when their dog sneers, growls as a result of protecting a resource from being taken away is to take it personal. If we can think on our feet and realize that it is perfectly normal for a dog to guard precious resources from others. When it comes to guarding from people (again, normal from the dog’s perspective) we do want to teach the dog that we are not a threat to them or that we actually want their stinky bones because displays of aggression such as sneering, air snaps and the like can very well turn into full-blown aggression. I guess it is also the case of dogs living in our world (and one more time) they have to learn to comply with our rules.
When people take their dog’s display of aggression personal and as a result they take it upon themselves to teach the dog who’s boss or that they should mind their manners the dog learns not to trust this person (or all people) around its precious resources. In other words the dog’s
fears materialized: They wanted a resource for themselves and the proximity of the person meant the resource was removed. Why not teach our dogs instead that the contrary is true: Whenever a person is in their close proximity when they are chewing on a bone, or eating dinner, it means that something even better will come their way! Now here is the good news.
Unless the dog is already actively guarding, there is a very easy and effective way to teach dogs that we do not want their precious possessions. The exercise works like this: If your dog has no history of guarding from you, when he/she is chewing, working a Kong or eating from a bowl walk by and give or throw inside the bowl something absolutely delicious- much better than what the dog is working on. Do this as a cold trial… as explained above and you will see that after a few days or weeks of this simple exercise your dog will even welcome your approach. You will see your dog looking at you (the source of the goodie) with adoring eyes confirming that you belong on that pedestal- his/her demeanor soft and relaxed, mouth open perhaps as she goes back to the task at hand and you go on your way.
Another effective way of teaching your non-guarding dog that you totally rock is to do a series of exchanges. Your dog has something that you rather he/she does not have, say a pair of expensive shoes (they are always the expensive ones…) approach your dog with calm body language while you present him/her with a tasty treat. In essence you are teaching your dog that when he/she surrenders “x” object they will get paid for their trust and efforts. Lastly, I have taught both our dogs that if I ask “give” for whatever reason they surrender only to find that they will get the chewy back a.s.a.p.
Now, if your dog is already guarding from you or anyone else, things are a bit trickier. I have worked with dogs that guard so ferociously that their amorous playful personality changes into a Cujo-like dog when in the presence of the resource they choose to protect. Not only do I want to keep the dog from practicing the behaviors that I want to replace for more appropriate ones, but it is plain dangerous to work with dogs who are guarders without some safety precautions in place. The protocol on how to deal with this volatile situation is elaborate and lengthy yet the success rate is high in most cases.
No comments:
Post a Comment