Dog Behaviour Problems: Your dog's behaviour
Moving house, Settling into a new home:
Question: I am moving from a house with a garden to an upper-level flat. Any advice about settling Ziggy in, please? He is a very energetic, demanding dog.
Answer: There are usually two difficulties associated with dogs living in flats without a garden.
One is that of house-training and the other is the lack of freedom and chance to exercise. An adult, fully-housetrained dog is not usually a problem, providing, of course, that you are prepared to take him out for frequent walks to allow him to relieve himself. Keeping both feeding and walking to regular times will helps prevent ‘accidents’ indoors and limits the number of times he asks to go out when it is inconvenient to take him.
The bigger problem, especially for an energetic, demanding dog, is the restriction on exercise. To make up for this, you must be prepared to take him out at least three times a day. Teach him to come back when called so that he can be let of the lead to run off energy.
It is also very important to take toys out with you so that you can use up his energy through play. Going out enough to satisfy him may easier in the Summer, but it is still necessary during the Winter too.
If you find you cannot take him out quite as much as you would like, training him to do tricks and to fetch and carry things around the house for you can help to use up some of his mental energy and make him less demanding.
- 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 have recently moved out of my mother's home into a place of my own with my 3-year-old border collie cross. Until this, she had company in the form of my mother's terrier and, since they were separated two months ago, she has been listless and looks depressed. Is she likely to get over this loneliness or will I have to get a companion dog for her? If so, what sort of dog what you recommend and of what age? If I got another dog it would be a rescue dog ñ is there anything I should be aware of when choosing one?
Answer: She will adjust in time, particularly if you make up for the lack of her friend by teaching her to play with toys with you and giving her lots of attention. If you want another dog, and your border collie cross is well adjusted, any type or age of dog would probably be okay. Try to find one that has been brought up with others and likes playing with them.
She would probably get on better with a male but if she has grown up with another dog, she is likely to adjust to any dog. You make also like to consider whether it is any other things that your dog is missing other than your mother’s terrier, such as your mother or the other people who live in the house.
Also, don’t underestimate the effect of moving on you. Collies are very sensitive to their owner’s moods and perhaps she is picking up on your changes as you adjust to a new home.
Question: My brother and I have recently moved house and now live in a block of six flats. We have two dogs and both are absolutely fine when we are in the flat with them. However, today we both went back to work, leaving them alone in the flat for the first time.
Upon returning, one of our neighbours commented that they had not stopped barking for most of the day. At our previous home, the dogs were fine when left alone (we have been in our new flat for over a week now).
How can we prevent them from barking and disrupting our neighbours? Unfortunately neither of us can take any more time off work to be able to leave them for short amounts of time alone and gradually building that up to longer periods. Please help - we don't want to start off on the wrong foot with our new neighbours!
Answer: This is a difficult problem as you are not there enough help them learn to cope. The flat you now live in probably seems very different to them to where they used to live and they are unsettled and finding it difficult to cope alone. They may also be hearing unfamiliar noises that also set them off barking. Or it may be that they had got used to having you with them all the time for a week and are now finding it difficult to be without you.
If you are not able to take time off work to help them settle, your only solution may be to find a friend or relative who is willing to have them during the day until they have calmed down.
Or perhaps one of your new neighbours could help or you could find a kennels that will take them on a daily basis. If you are able to do this, spend the evenings and weekends getting them used to gradually being left alone as you describe, leaving them for increasingly longer periods until they can cope with up to an hour without you.
Make them as comfortable as possible before you leave, leaving things for them to chew and play with, and make sure they have plenty of exercise and play beforehand.
- 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 own a 7-month-old Dalmation Bitch, which I purchased at 7 and a half weeks old. She has a lovely temperament and loves people and attention, which is needed as we live in a pub. She is solely my dog and lives in my room and sleeps on my bed. I am now wondering if she could or would ever protect me if someone invaded our space on a night, or if she could be trained to protect me if anyone wished to harm us.
I have heard dogs natural instincts are to do this, but she has been so well socialised with people that she has no reason to harm them or be wary of them. I think she would be the only dog to wag her tail at burglars.
Any advice would be welcomed, however I wouldn’t want her to loose her nice temperament.
Answer: This is a subject that obviously concerns many readers since we have had many letters since I answered one on a similar subject a few months ago. Thank you to all of you who wrote in. Some wrote to say that their normally friendly dogs became uncharacteristically aggressive during a frightening experience with unpleasant people, while others said that their dog just carried on wagging their tail.
There are lots of theories as to breed influence and how their behaviour will be determined according to how they are raised, but, there is no way of really knowing how your own dog will react until you are faced with an unpleasant incident.
In your case, I think you should be extremely proud to have raised a puppy with such a wonderful temperament. Her nature sounds ideal for the environment in which you live.
I believe that dogs should grow up never needing to mistrust people, and therefore never needing to show aggression toward them. They are then better suited for the world that we live in and are less likely to be killed because they have fallen foul of our English laws by frightening or injuring someone. They also then stand a better chance of being rehomed if they find themselves in a rescue kennel. If they do have an encounter with an undesirable, they also then stand a better chance of surviving an ordeal unharmed.
If a burglar is not deterred from the barking most dogs will do when a unusual noise is heard, then surely it is better that your puppy wag her tail rather than show her teeth to someone who could be potentially dangerous.
So much for protecting her, but what about you! To answer your question as to whether your dog could be trained to guard, this is possible through play training, but it is a specialist art and not many trainers know how to do it properly. A partly trained guard dog is a liability and I would not recommend that you go down this route. Sadly, there are many trainers, particularly those who will take your dog away for ‘guard dog training’, will use aversive methods and will ruin her good nature.
My advice would be to teach her to ‘speak’ on command for titbits or toys (make sure these come from someone standing in front of you so that she learns to bark at them rather than at you). If you are holding her collar and she is barking, and appears to be well trained, this can be quite formidable to an ‘intruder’. I would also urge you to invest in the latest high-tech alarm system to deter intruders, and to learn self-defence so that you are more confident of your ability to deal with problems (you are the pack leader after all!).
I think this is a better way to deal with the dangerous element of our society rather than to expect your young Dalmation to fulfil the role of protector. You can then, instead, enjoy her affection for people without worrying that she is too friendly.
As to whether or not she would protect you, you probably will not know unless it happens. Dalmatians were bred originally to run alongside carriages and bark or guard them from highwaymen. However, there have been many generations bred since then. If you are lucky, some of ‘guarding’ genetics may have survived.
It is probable that dogs that do guard or protect their owners do so through boldness of character, which is partly genetically inherited and partly due to upbringing. Some dogs do it and some won’t. I hope you never have to find out, but please remember that the police are always telling us that the fear of crime is greater than actual crime. It can be a dangerous world out there, but all we can do is take sensible precautions and then hope that it doesn’t happen to us.
Question: Rufus is a 7.5 month old terrier cross with a very lovely, loving character. He will have to move to a friend of mine, and I am very worried about the effect this will have on him. What can we do to make the transition as easy as possible for him.? Should we wait until he is older, and if so, how old? Once he has moved, should he be allowed to visit his old home, or would it be better for him to be cut off completely?
Answer: Dogs are very adaptable and acclimatise quite readily to new situations that they find themselves in. However, in my experience, there does seem to be some long term effects of rehoming young dogs, particularly those that have a shy or sensitive nature. Shy dogs tend to form very strong bonds to their owner, sometimes to the exclusion of all others, and dogs that do this can find it particularly difficult to change homes.
If Rufus is shy and reserved with strangers or wary of new experiences, I would suggest waiting until he is fully mature to move him. Adolescence is a difficult time and moves made during this time seem to upset sensitive dogs and can cause them to develop separation problems if changes are made suddenly.
At least Rufus won’t have to have a spell in kennels. Despite all attempts of kind staff at rescue centres, a stay in kennels can be traumatic for some dogs, especially if they have not been used to it or if it goes on for a long time. Since Rufus is going to live with a friend, he will, thankfully, be spared that.
My advice is to try to arrange as many meetings with that friend as possible before the transfer takes place. If this person becomes Rufus’ friend, the transition will be much easier. Rufus could even go and stay at your friend’s house for weekends occasionally if this is possible. This will give Rufus a chance to transfer his affection to his new owner and to begin to see him as a good pack leader also.
Once he does this, going to live with your friend should not be a problem for him. If he makes the transition easily and bonds readily to your friend, visits from you or to you will not be a problem for him. These types of visit are usually more upsetting for the previous owner than the dog – don’t expect him to greet you and treat you in the same way once he is someone else’s dog!
Question: My Uncle was taken into hospital last Wednesday, having fallen down the stairs. They've now found out that he has bone cancer and obviously no one knows yet (and won't know for a while) how long he's going to be in hospital for. He's currently having treatment, but the fall fractured/broke (not sure) his neck, so after the cancer treatment he'll need a spine operation. The cancer is secondary which means it's also somewhere else. Again, no one knows, if he'll ever be able to walk again if he recovers from the treatment AND the operation. He has a 2-year old doggie (Bo) who's very sweet and is used to going everywhere with him.
There's a difference in opinion in what type of pooch he is, some say he's a collie cross with a German shepherd, but someone else says he's a scotch collie, he's black and tan (if it helps!). Bo's been to obedience classes (up to silver level) so is very well trained.
Currently someone goes in at 7am to walk him and lunchtime, another person at 4.30-5 to feed him and let him out in the garden and then the same 7am person goes back at 10pm to walk him. My cousins also pop in every now again at lunchtimes/weekends. I've also been in over weekends to walk his legs off! Most people think that it's good to leave him where he is in his own home with his own routine. But some think he should go to someone else's home, who may not be there all day (although he'd be let out in the garden during the day) but will be there all evening and weekends.
My concern is that if he's left alone too long and have so many different people going in, all those good obedience classes may go down the drain as he'll start to want to become 'pack leader' himself. Or he'll be learning that he's going to be alone every night and start to play up. Is it best for him to stay put in his own home (don't how long this will be) wait to see what happens or take him somewhere else until my Uncle's home? If my uncle eventually comes home and can't walk the dog he'll probably keep him and the people that are walking now will walk him them.
Answer: This is a difficult one to answer as there are many uncertainties. Dogs enjoy and need company and it wouldn’t be right to keep this dog in this way for too long. Having said that, dogs are very adaptable and, like children, learn to cope with less than ideal conditions if they have to.
Collies can be quite fearful of new experiences and keeping him in his own home is much better than, say, placing him in kennels. If he is not afraid of being alone, he could become quite used to this way of life. Collies, particularly, are dogs that like to bond closely with people. If all the people who look after him are kind and give him affection, he will soon get used to them and look forward to them coming. If they can spend long enough with him, he could get all the social contact he needs in this way.
Try to make sure he is getting enough play with toys as well so that he uses up more energy that if they were just taking him for walks. Try to leave him things to chew or play with while he is alone so that he has something to do to occupy his time.
As for his training suffering or him thinking he is leader of the pack, I wouldn’t worry too much about that. As soon as his owner comes home, he will go back to his old self. Or if he has to be rehomed, he will get used to someone new and decide then where his place in the pack lies. Living alone will not change that. I hope, for his sake and yours, that your uncle is soon well and that things work out well for his dog.
Question: I am writing to ask advice about a situation with our Border Collie bitch who is eleven. She has always been afraid of loud noises, fireworks, gunshots etc but the situation has become more profound. We moved house 4 years ago into a quiet village, and she seems to have found the move disturbing. Most of the time there is little sound but sometimes there are gunshots, vehicles reversing and unloading etc, and she is terrified by these sounds.
Gradually the situation has developed and she now afraid of the rain on the roof and windows, wind blowing, washing machines, dishwashers and even someone building a stonewall. When she is afraid she trembles and tries to escape from the sound, this includes digging at walls, doors and even pulling gates off their hinges. We have tried to give her a secure dark space but she continues to try and escape, we have also tried homeopathy and herbal remedies but nothing seems to work.
She seems to spend the day in a sensitive, nervous way and we are finding the situation very difficult, as we cannot leave her alone with out her damaging herself, by trying to chew or dig her escape. Also we can’t ask someone to take care of her because of her desperate need to escape noise. Even when we are at home we are unable to help her and just have to restrain her by holding onto her lead until the fear passes.
I have heard of something called fear desensitising but don’t know how it would work, when I cannot control the sounds that occur. We really want to help her as we have the constant worry that she will manage to escape one day. Do you have any advice as to whether we can help her overcome her fears as I know we can not continue with the situation as it is, its just to stressful for everyone.
Answer: It must be a difficult time for both you and your dog and it is important that you do something to help her quickly. Since you explained that your dog has always been afraid of loud noises, it is likely that her problem has been exacerbated by a decrease in her sense of security due to your house move 4 years ago and her increasing age.
Familiarity is essential to the feeling of safety that we need to help face the worries of everyday life and middle-aged collie are especially sensitive to changes in their lives and surroundings.
Dogs, like people, are less able to protect themselves as they get older, and become more fragile, and, consequently, get more concerned about their personal safety. In addition, it seems as though your previous home was in a busier, more built up environment. Loud noises usually occur more frequently in a more populated environment and blend in to the constant hussle-bussle going on outside.
Your new home in the quiet village will be a direct contrast to this, and individual noises will be heard more clearly through the background silence. We can all appreciate the fact that when watching scary movies at the cinema, it is the silence that creates the tension before the action (usually accompanied by a loud noise) that makes us jump out of our skins.
Border collies have exceptional hearing (necessary for hearing directions from shepherds a few fields away on a windy hillside). In the wild, it is natural and useful to be afraid of loud, unfamiliar noises and many puppies grow up without hearing enough loud sudden-onset noises, such as gunshot and fireworks, to get them used to them.
Usually, dogs learn get scared after two or three frightening experiences with loud noises and this quickly develops into a phobia where the response is out of all proportion to the degree of danger. Dogs usually learn a set of associations that accompany the loud noises and, gradually, they can become frightened of these too.
If your dog has mostly heard the loud noises in the house, she may associate them with being in the house and, when she hears something scary, her first thought is to leave the house. This causes her to create havoc trying to escape or to bolt if she is able to find an open door.
Over time, as the phobia develops, it is common for dogs to generalise to a wider selection of loud or unusual sounds, such as washing machines, or sounds that sometimes act as precursors of loud noises, such as strong winds.
Before you can start treating your dogs problem with loud noises, it is important to provide her with as much security and freedom from loud noises as possible, although I appreciate that this is not always easy in a world filled with noise.
For the time being, try to provide her with company all the time from yourselves or from a relative or close friend if possible when you cannot be with her. This will provide you with a window of opportunity of reduced stress levels in which to attempt desensitising her to the loud noises that first frightened her (once she is no longer scared of these, her fear of other noises will diminish too).
To begin with, you will need a good recording of sudden-onset noises, including gunshot, thunder, fireworks and hot air balloons. BBC sound effects CD’s are a good source of good quality sounds like this. Once you can control the level of sound that causes the fear, your dog will need to be exposed regularly to very low levels at first, and taught to anticipate a fun tail-wagging experience during this time.
Set the volume control low – remember that their hearing is far more sensitive than ours is. After a few seconds of the noise, play with your dog, feed a few tasty treats, give plenty of fuss and fun, or time the noise to coincide with the arrival of her dinner or the return of a family member. Do this as often as possible throughout the day and do not increase the noise level until the sound becomes associated with something positive and your dog’s tail starts to wag when she hears it.
Then, slowly, increase the sound, repeating the above after every increase.
Once your dog is wagging her tail and getting excited when she hears the noise at a level that would be comfortably loud for us, use the recorded noise to overcome any fears that may result from real noises. If you can, control these noises so that she gradually gets used to them, and even begins to enjoy them.
Helping your dog to re-learn positive associations with specific noises at this stage can be complex. If you do not make steady progress, seek professional assistance from a member of the The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors. They will provide you with the essential support and assistance that is difficult to give in a letter like this.
The important thing is that you need to persevere as it can take a few months, particularly in an older dog. However, it will be worth it in the end and you can both return to a more peaceful life.
- 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.
Good luck!
Back to Dog Behaviour Problems
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |