I was on week 2 of a private training session. I thought things were going very well. The owners were responding, and even having fun. Their Abby, an eight month old boarder collie, was responding well. I could see the joy returning to her eyes.

In the initial intake the owners expressed pride that they had a working bloodline dog. They described in length how Abby’s mom herded sheep around the paddock and through the gate. That is why their next statement caught me by surprise.

“I know all this dog training is important,” said Abby’s owner, “But this isn’t what we want. We want her to lay down in front of the fireplace and not disturb us.”

I literally came to a complete stop. What could I say? How do people know they are buying a high drive dog, but expect it to be ‘trained’ to not be a high drive dog? That would be the same as me buying a pickup truck and being upset because it didn’t have the gas mileage, comforts, and upgrades found in a BMW.

This is exactly what we need to consider whether a dog trainer who is trying to help a pet owner, or people who are buying a dog.  There are a lot of things that we can train, but there are a lot of things that we cannot train.

The explanation can be quite complex. There are entire courses at institutions like MIT and Harvard that cover one aspect of cognitive development or instinct.

Dogs are hardwired for certain behaviors. A border collie is bred to have the stamina to work all day because it needs to work all day. It is not trying to give you a hard time. It is not ‘bad.’ It is not acting out. It is acting like a perfectly normal border collie.

The same with a beagle. Your beagle is bred to hunt. It is bred to stay on the trail until it chases down what it is hunting. We know these behaviors as instincts. In the Neuro-Science world they are simply memories that are stored on proteins which are attached to Chronozones. They are hard wired into the dog’s brain.

Another issue that you cannot train out of your dog is brain chemicals. Some dogs release more cortisol when excited than others. Cortisol makes a dog run longer, hit harder, work longer, or appear scarier.  It is all based on how the brain releases the chemical, and in part, the size of the pituitary gland.

As you can see, a lot of intangibles come together to shape a dog into the breed/type. This is why behavior experts like Dr Ian Dunbar say that ‘behavior can be changed. Temperament cannot.’  That is because behavior is often learned by experience. Temperament is hard wired.

Then dogs have 2 cognitive centers. We often call these cognitive brain and primal brain. The more cognitive a dog the less emotional it is. Another way to say this, the less it is to react to fear, stress, and being startled.

”Cutting-edge neuroscientific tools are now available that make it possible for scientists to map and interrogate the specific brain circuits that control these behaviors. Modern neuroscience now stands poised to unravel exactly how this circuitry works in order to generate both normal and pathological behaviors.” Jim Jikomes, Harvard. Edu.

So, as much as I like you, and I would love a good review, I cannot teach your beagle not to hunt squirrels. I cannot teach your Akita to be the friendliest dog at the dog park. And I cannot make your border collie stop acting like a border collie. f

The post “No, I Can’t Stop Your Border Collie From Acting Like A Border Collie.” appeared first on Sport Dog Training Center.

Part of the problem is that people believe that any dog that bites, growls, or backs away (stress/fear) is aggressive, or going to be aggressive. Without understanding this is normal dog communication.

The second part of the problem is that dogs which jump up on their owners, other dogs, bark ‘happily’, rush up to other dogs, are actually displaying inappropriate behavior. I am far more concerned with this behavior because this is ‘not’ happy or friendly behavior. By putting ‘human emotions’ on this behavior (often because it makes us feel happy) is letting a dog practice behavior which I have seen lead to:

• Bullying their owners
• Bullying other dogs
• No self control or control over the dog’s behavior.

Why is My Puppy Biting?

I’ve had many people call me terrified because their puppy bit them, or their child. Once I ascertain that they were not bullying the puppy I ask when it had a nap. In most cases the puppy has been kept up most of the day, often for days. Puppies normally are awake 2 hours, sleep 2 hours, repeat. Even at 5 months old my puppies are up 3 hours, sleep 2 hours.  Would they ‘act out’ if they were over tired? Of course, just like children.

Another reason puppies bite is because they are frustrated. Two of the main situations are a) when you want to go in the house but your puppy wants to play, and b) the puppy is bored/under exercised, over exercised. 

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• There is a third one that I see less, the puppy is over stimulated. The puppy has no quiet, safe place to recharge and calm down.
• Before we can assess your puppy you need to ask yourself a few questions:
• Was this dog from working bloodlines, or bred by someone with no genetic history?
• Am I spending enough time socializing the dog, training the dog, exercising the dog, mentally stimulating the dog, and touching the dog?
• Have I seen any indication that my dog is touch sensitive and withdrawn? Does this dog not want to be the ‘life of the party?
• Was my puppy properly socialized in the whelping box? Did the breeder do a program like Prodigy Puppy or Puppy Culture? Did the breeder do a temperament test?
• Am I putting unrealistic expectations on the dog? Am I treating it like a human? Am I making excuses for bad behavior? Am I letting it run wild 23 hours a day, and then expecting it to ‘obey’ or ‘comply’ because I want to spend time with it?
• Does my puppy have the zoomies around 3pm or 7pm? (see our other articles)

A sad truth is that most people do not research ‘how to pick the right puppy’ until it is too late. It is sad to say, but most behavior problems I’ve seen involving puppy biting under 16 weeks were from ‘non professional’ breeders who did not do Volhart (or similar) tests, Puppy Culture, or worry about genetics and behavior. Temperament is hereditary. You can not fix it. (behavior can be changed, temperament cannot – Dr Dunbar).

In fact, designer dogs are big business. I belong to many dog groups on facebook and have heard some horrifying stories. On one thread several designer dog breeders were talking about how to convince people that ‘all’ benefits of purebred dogs in behavior are gone when you cross the dog. They discussed how to make people believe that a cross brought the best of both breeds to ‘every’ puppy.

On another thread people breeding a variety of dogs discussed what to do when people wanted to see the puppy parents. The solutions ranged from feeding the dogs gravol or some other medication to sedate/calm them, to boarding the parent’s out and ‘borrowing’ a couple of good dogs. This is truly a buyer beware situation. 

Aggression or Dangerous?

Instead of asking, “is this dog aggressive?” Dr Dunbar says we need to ask, “is this dog dangerous?” He explains that a bite history does not mean that a dog is dangerous. Dogs bite when frustrated, afraid, or stressed. Many dogs bite because they have been bullied by children, forced into situations they are not comfortable in, or over stressed. Many bites are a dog’s last resort to stop you from doing something that hurts/upsets/frightens the dog.

I have assessed about 10 dogs who were ‘great with kids’, ‘the kids best friend’, ‘loved the kids’ who suddenly bit those same kids. Only one of these dogs I assessed as dangerous. Once the children were given boundaries and limits with the dogs and/or gates were put up to create safe places for child and dog, and the parent’s saw to the dogs’ emotional needs, then there was no risk of danger to the child.

Dangerous is any dog who may accidentally harm a person or dog. Any dog who has ‘intent to harm’ should be euthanized – not give away to someone else. Even if it is a puppy.

Dr Dunbar  uses the dog bite damage to assess whether a dog is safe or dangerous. If you ask me if the first puppy is aggressive I will say ‘probably not if you do the socializing and training until 1 year old, as all dogs should have.’ If you ask me if the second puppy has more of a chance of becoming dangerous than the first puppy.

What Can You Do? How to Stop Puppy Biting

The wrong thing to do is become angry, try dominating your puppy, or do nothing. All of these will teach a puppy behaviors you don’t want them to know. The first step is to make sure your have assessed the problem correctly. We don’t like deadlines, but a puppy’s temperament is set before it is 16 weeks old. You are running out of time. If you assess wrong then you may stop the biting (mask the emotions) but you will not solve the problem. One day the mask will come off and you will be unprepared.

One thing you cannot do is ‘train’ the puppy to have a better temperament or behaviors. Look at it this way, if your puppy is biting because it is frustrated and you stop the biting then you think the puppy is better. However, the puppy will continue to build up the frustration, with no way to tell you that something is wrong – until the puppy finally explodes. 

I hope this article helps you. If you have any more questions then please contact me. I can answer a couple questions, or we can set up an online consult to help solve a puppy bite problem before your puppy grows into a dangerous dog.

If you feel your puppy is just being a baby then please read through this blog. There are several tutorials to download, and over 30 articles to help you raise your puppy.

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Monday

6pm – Canine Parkour, Core Training, Dance

6pm – Competition Rally (area 2)

7pm – Urban Heeling and Obedience

Tuesday 

6pm – Heeling and Rally ‘learn the moves’

7pm – Reactive Dog Socialization

Wednesday

6pm – Functional Puppy Life Skills – Open to older dogs in second area who want to practice.

7pm – Scent Detection

Thursday

Friday 

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You have been exposing your puppy to new environments, new smells, new challenges. Each one should have been age appropriate. None should have frightened or stressed your puppy. Each ‘adventure’ should have been a happy one, ending in a good nap (latent learning).

Puppies habituate to things very quickly, so the third or fourth exposure is no longer socializing.

Don’t worry if your puppy is Wary. This is normal. Give your puppy the opportunity to think about a new situation before engaging. If your puppy is afraid of something that we know is safe it can be hard to wait for the puppy to feel confident enough to accept the challenge – but that is what confidence is – the ability to ‘choose’ to accept a challenge.

Many breeders use wariness as an indicator of a puppy’s intelligence.

Wariness is not fear – but it can quickly become fear. If you push the puppy too fast, or try to force the puppy, then normal things will become dangerous.

From 5 weeks old a good breeder is putting challenges before a puppy – and letting them solve the problems on their own. Even if the breeder must wait 10 minutes for a puppy to accept a challenge and figure it out. They never push the puppy. They never ‘do it for them.’ They never ‘rescue’ the puppy (unless it is in danger of becoming afraid.)

If a puppy is still concerned then a puppy has 2 choices: Fight or Flight. If you don’t want an aggressive or reactive dog then ‘walk away.’ Teach your puppy that flight is the only acceptable response to fear. When the puppy is in training then you can turn ‘run away’ into ‘reorient to me’.

Confidence in People

About 14 weeks we start seeing how well you socialized your puppy. If it is afraid of people then you’ll start seeing aggression and fear reactions. If everyone has been good to the puppy, given it treats, and let the puppy come and see them then your puppy will be happy to see everyone.

Do I let strangers pet the puppies? That all depends. Not if we are on a busy street. Not if the puppies are not having a good day. Not if the puppy is wary, shy, or fearful. I also don’t let the people pet the puppies. Instead, I give them a treat to give the puppy.  I often wait until 14 weeks before puppies are exposed to strangers. (and cars/streets/etc) By 14 weeks my puppies think every human on earth is wonderful and wants to give them treats. I always let puppies walk to the person. If the puppy says ‘no’ then I will not force the puppy to greet the people – even if they are family. 

Confidence in dogs

This can be more difficult. I have German Shepherds who have been taught by their parents since 5 weeks old to be calm, quiet, and patient. Then when my dogs see a puppy acting out they become upset. One of the worst things I could do is to correct them – especially with a leash jerk.

All this teaches a dog is that you will hurt it every time it sees a dog. Eventually (about 6 – 9 months) your dog will hate seeing other dogs. The problem will escalate.

But, it is important to make sure that your puppy is around crazy puppies, big dogs, little dogs etc by 14 weeks. But – not without preparation. Teach ‘leave it’, don’t chase, don’t bite, teach it to be calm, etc before puppies meet. This gives your puppy the skills needed so you can control the encounter.

If things go wrong and the other dog disciplines your puppy and it starts to scream ‘do not rescue it.’ Take it to a quiet corner and comfort it. Sit quietly. Remain calm. Let your puppy learn that the correct behavior/response is to be calm.

One of the best ways to introduce dogs is to drop treats on the ground. If the other dog is big then make two areas on the floor. Let the dogs eat treats while they are close together.

Confidence in Environments

Starting at 5 weeks old puppies need to be taken into all sorts of environments. Let the puppy explore. Forget your agenda. Forget training. If your puppy looks worried then toss a ball, or drop treats.

One thing that is important to remember is that any ‘hyper’ behavior is not fun, it is anxiety. If your puppy is acting crazy or hyper then stop the play every few minutes to calm the puppy. The puppy is over threshold. Puppies need to learn good manners in every environment.

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Most new puppy owners do not realizing that Socializing happens from when a puppy wakes up, until it goes to sleep. It is important to give the puppies new things to explore all day, inside and outside. It is important to set up games for the puppy, and puzzles to solve. But it is also important to teach the puppy to be calm.

You cannot force a puppy to be calm. But you can ‘reinforce’ a puppy’s behavior when it is calm. Your puppy will become what you reinforce. The problem is – your puppy is reinforced positively and negatively. This means that you can reinforce a puppy by saying good puppy, petting, playing, and giving a treat. Or, you can reinforce a behavior by yelling, punishing, yanking a leash, or handling a puppy roughly. Both of these will reinforce a behavior. So, be careful that you are not reinforcing behaviors you do not want the puppy to continue.

At this stage I start teaching puppies not to bite each other’s faces, or bite my hand. They have already learned bite inhibition at 6 weeks, but now they must learn good manners. I will let a puppy mouth my hand if the puppy is being calm and gentle. But, I will not let a puppy bite me if the puppy is excited. I will stop the puppy by holding it, and then when it stops biting, I will praise the calm behavior.

I also start to teach puppies the next level of ‘leave it.’ I will put a bag of treats on the floor between my legs. Then ask them to sit. If they sit I give a treat. There is not punishment for not sitting.

Another game I play is holding a treat in both hands. The puppy gets the treat when it looks at me, not it’s hand.

When the puppy is practicing ‘sit’ and ‘down’ I randomly make the puppy wait 2 – 10 seconds between treats.

I also teach the puppy that when the leash goes tight, we stop walking. One of the main things that I suggest that you never do is to take a puppy on a walk until after the puppy has learned to walk. I start by teaching leash skills at home, at 10 weeks. Then I teach the puppy not to pull. By 14 weeks I will take the puppy to parks, sidewalks, and parking lots.

Each area can make your puppy forget that it has learned to walk on a leash. That is okay, it is a normal part of learning for a puppy. Give your puppy time to learn. If your puppy learns to walk calmly before 6 months old, then the chances of being reactive are negligible.

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