Dog Behaviour Problems: Settling into a new home

Going to a boarding kennels, Breeding kennels, Puppy farms:

Question: I have had my 7 week old Staffordshire bull terrier puppy for two weeks and about four days ago she started growling every time she was picked up or handled. Is there any way of nipping this in the bud? I want a friendly, affectionate dog and feel unable to pet her freely for fear of her becoming aggressive. Is this something she will grow out of or can I do something to prevent it?

Answer: You must have had her at about 4 weeks of age, which is very young to leave her mother. This may have something to do with her lack of confidence now.

It is important to treat this as a problem based in fear and not to punish the growling. It is her way of telling you she is not happy with the situation and rather than push her into biting to defend herself, back off when she growls and take things more slowly.

Stop picking her up for a while until she gains confidence and handle her gently so that she slowly builds her trust in you.

If you continue to have problems, consider finding a pet behaviour counsellors to help (contact the The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors).

You may like to read The Perfect Puppy which has more information on understanding & helping this behaviour.

Also see Gwen Bailey's article on Ingredients for the Perfect Puppy

Please also see Training for Life (everyday life) easy & fun training classes you can do at home, including:

• Audio tape of noises your dog must learn to be unafraid of
• Video on how to raise a friendly, well balanced dog that can cope with everyday experiences in the modern world
• Explanation of training using rewards, toilet training, learning to be alone, chewing, adolescence, setting boundaries and saying ‘no, solving behaviour problems, tricks, games and having fun.

Question: I hope you can help me? I have a 14-week-old Jack Russell pup. She was very nervous when I bought her from what I thought was a breeder, but when I arrived they seemed to have lots of different breeds all in separate pens. My pup was in a pen all on her own, and just sat there shaking. There were no parents of the puppies to be seen, but I fell in love with her and decided that I couldn’t leave her there. She was only 12 weeks! Now at 14 weeks she is bold as brass, especially in doors, and loves my children to bits.

My problem with her is that she wont walk on a lead at all, not even indoors. I’ve tried a choke chain, a harness, just calling her or offering her food, but she just sits there. I even tried putting her on an extendable lead but she still won't move.

I take her out in the car every day in the car to take my children to school, but even when I carry her to fetch my children out of class, she just shakes. She is a totally different dog when out of the house.

I don’t know if anything unpleasant has happened to her in the first 12 weeks of her life I hope you can give me some advice, I am desperate.

Answer: The environment in which your puppy was kept, before you collected her, sounded very poor and was probably an outlet for puppy farm breeders who are not fussy who they pass on their pups to.

Sadly, this is unfortunately how life begins for so many young dogs at the hands of unscrupulous people who are in the puppy business just for the money. Without the essential benefits that a warm loving, safe environment can provide, puppies from these outlets adapt less well in their new homes, and find it more difficult to cope with any form, or level, of stress and fear.

This may have something to do with the high stress levels of their mothers while they were in the womb, or could be the result of poor conditions they were born into, or the panic and stress caused by being taken from the mother too soon and transported long distances. Often decent people like yourself are emotionally blackmailed into paying good money for these pathetic pups since they feel sorry for them, and so the cycle continues.

Good breeders will ensure that both mother and puppies are kept as stress-free as possible and will make sure that the puppies are exposed safely to a vast range of different experiences from between the ages of 3-12 weeks; commonly known as the socialising. The more the puppy learns about the world during this time the better it will be able to cope with day to day experiences in juvenile and adult life. It is likely that, in addition to all the fear and stress your puppy went through, she also missed out on adequate socialisation too.

Now that she has found herself a loving home with you and your family it sounds as if she is catching up quickly, as the phrase ‘bold as brass’ clearly illustrates. However, poorly socialised puppies have only a thin veneer of confidence and are okay with things that they have learned are safe, such as life at home, but become upset when placed in a situation that is new and unfamiliar.

I think the problem of her not walking on the lead may be connected with going outside. She has probably learned that wearing a lead means that she has no control over where she goes and that, when the lead is attached, you take her to places that scare her. If you tackle her fear of going outside, I think the lead problem will probably clear up quite easily.

The most important thing to remember while you are working with her is not to force her to do things that make her worry or shake. Watch her body language and stop when you see her tail and ears begin to go down. This also applies to when you are carrying her as she has no control over where you take her. Care must be taken not to overwhelm her. If she is shaking when you take her into the school to collect your children, it is a sure sign that she has become extremely distressed. A car ride followed by a visit to a school may just be too much. If you live near to the school it may be best leave her at home for a while until she is a bit more used to going out.

Try to concentrate on taking her to places that she enjoys and gradually build up to nosier and busier places. It may be that you have to start with getting her happy to be in the garden at first. Once she can cope with this, try walking her down the street, taking it at a pace that she can cope with. Produce tasty titbits and quick games along the way to make it fun and exciting, and be as ‘jolly’ as possible (rather than reassuring) to help her see that everything is okay. Don’t pull her on the lead. Use it as a security in case she runs off, but, otherwise, put no pressure on it at all.

At times when you are not tackling the problem of overcoming her fears outside, attach a lightweight lead to her collar and let it trail along the ground indoors. This will enable her to become familiar with the new sensation of what it is like to wear a lead. Make a list of five rewards that make her tail wag e.g. being fed a bowl of food or playing with a favourite toy. Her new lead should be attached to her collar one minute before each of these rewards are given, and then taken off when the reward session has finished. This will teach her to enjoy and look forward to having a lead clipped to her collar, as she will associate the line with happy and exciting things. When she is used to this, hold the end of the lead and lead her gently to each of the five rewards so that she gradually learns to accept being led in the direction in which you want her to go.

If you are not making progress, please get help from a good pet behaviourist as time lost during puppyhood is very difficult to make up later. Good luck with her. She is lucky to have found someone who cares so much after such a bad start.

Please also see Training for Life (everyday life) easy & fun training classes you can do at home, including:

• Audio tape of noises your dog must learn to be unafraid of
• Video on how to raise a friendly, well balanced dog that can cope with everyday experiences in the modern world
• Explanation of training using rewards, toilet training, learning to be alone, chewing, adolescence, setting boundaries and saying ‘no, solving behaviour problems, tricks, games and having fun.

Question: We have a six-year-old rescue greyhound called Brin, whom we have had now for four months. Brin has not had a very good life before we took him in and we know very little about his past, except that his ear had been ripped in half from a dog fight he had whilst in rescue kennels.

He is a very quiet gentle, loving dog, very loyal to us and patient with our four young children.

The problem started when we were out walking. On the third day we had him he pulled from his lead and attacked and bit another dog, therefore we cannot let him off the lead, this seems a shame, particularly to a greyhound.

The aggression in him when he sees another dog is terrible. He growls, snarls, barks and frantically pulls on his lead, he is very strong. The vet recommended a halti, which we use, but does not stop his aggression.

I’ve tried rewarding him with treats if he happens to ignore another dog, this worked for a while, but now he seems worse than ever. Walking is getting to be a nightmare, as we cannot walk past another dog on the same pavement, we have to cross the road, which is a nuisance when I have the children with me.

It was mainly Collies, Golden Retrievers and Labradors at first, now it is every dog. Training classes wont help him as they say he is too old to teach and sounds too aggressive to have with other dogs.

Please can you help, we don’t want to re-home him, as we all love him and want to do our best for him in helping him overcome this problem.

Answer: It seems that Brin is not coping at all with other dogs at the moment having probably decided that they are so dangerous to him that attack is the best form of defence. His previous home or the rescue kennels in which he was kept before you took him on will have played a big part and the incident where his ear was ripped in a fight with another dog will have made a big contribution to this problem.

Although rescue kennels do a wonderful job in helping to re-home unwanted animals, an unfortunate consequence of keeping a large population of dogs in one area is that sensitive or frightened dogs learn very quickly to protect themselves by using aggression. This is especially so if the design of the kennels is such that they are often confronted by others.

As kennelled rescue dogs cannot escape this unforgiving environment, they often become aggressive in an effort to deter unwanted attention from strange neighbouring dog. Many of these dogs carry these unpleasant experiences and negative perception of other dogs into their new homes, where new owners are left bewildered and unsure about how to tackle this unwanted behaviour.

Contrary to popular belief greyhounds do not demand as much physical exercise as the more higher endurance breeds such as the Border collie. Greyhounds are designed to spend the majority of their energy in short bursts of explosive running and tire quickly. At this time, if we consider life from Brin's perspective, walks are very scary as he is taken to the very place where other dogs appear to lurk ready to get him.

For the time being, I would stop walking him on your regular routes where you will come across other dogs. If you can, take him to places where he can run free away from other dogs, making sure he wears a suitable box-type greyhound muzzle just in case. If not, exercise him well in the garden. By doing this the problem will get no worse and Brin will begin to relax in the absence of hostile encounters with dogs outside.

During this time, make a list of five things that make Brin’s tail way and offer them regularly at home and in the garden. You will find that as his stress levels go down, he will begin to focus on you as a source of the good things in life and his relationship with you should improve.

The next stage will involve taking him out to meet selected dogs in a safe, controlled manner, while using some of his favourite things to help him overcome his fear. Since it is quite complicated, I would recommend you contact a member of the APBC (www.apbc.org.uk) to give the appropriate support and discover a safe way forward. If this stage is done well, Brin should begin to build up a small circle of doggy friends who will help him to get his confidence back.

The first stage is the easy part, and it sounds as if you could all do with a break. Good luck and stay with it – it will be worth it in the end.

You may like to read The Rescue Dog which has more information on understanding & reading more on your dog's behaviour.

Please also see Gwen Bailey's articles on A Greyhoud or Lurcher in the Family and Predatory Aggression in Lurchers and Greyhounds

Question: I will be going on holiday for two weeks in the summer and will be boarding my 11-month old Jack Russell. I am dreading leaving him, but have found a kennels on a 120 acre farm where he will be walked regularly. However, I am concerned that he might forget who I am as he is still so young, and that I will have to start again with toilet training upon my return. Am I worrying too much?

Answer: Probably. The most important thing is that you find a good kennels that will keep him safe and healthy and be kind to him. Ask around (vets, dog trainers, friends) to find out the reputations of the local kennels.

Go and visit if you haven’t already done so, and check the condition and attitude of the resident dogs. Do they wag their tails when they see the staff coming, or run and hide? Not all dogs will be friendly to staff, but the majority of pet dogs should make friends with nice staff fairly quickly.

Check how many dogs and how many staff they have. Is it physically possible to care for all the dogs and find time to walk them every day too? How many do they take out at a time and how long are they walked for? It would be preferable if you could have left him at the kennels for the occasional weekend to let him get used to it before leaving him for two weeks, but young dogs are very adaptable, and he will soon get used to his new environment.

He won’t forget you. He may be a little offhand with you for the first day or so when you get him home, but this is normal. Then he will be the same as always. And his toilet training won’t suffer either. He may have one or two accidents while his body adjusts to your routine, but he won’t forget how to be clean. Don’t worry, and have a nice holiday.

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