dog trainer

Breeders: Red & Green Flags

As a puppy specialist, I am lucky enough to work with lots of puppies (in the last year, I have worked with over 100 puppies and their owners!). This means I see, on an almost daily basis, the impact that a good or a bad breeder can have on a puppy (and ultimately, the whole life of a dog).

Many people think that as long as they see the mother with the pup or if the breeder is ‘licensed’, that this is doing due-diligence and sadly, this is not enough. In fact, in most parts of the country, you only need a licence at all if you are planning on having 3 or more litters a year, which can be a red flag in itself. In Dorset, however, you also need a licence if you are going to make more than £1000 per litter (and with prices how they are currently, this is very little!).

With this in mind, I wanted to write a list of breeder ‘red-flags’ and ‘green-flags’ so that prospective puppy parents know what to look out for but also so that current puppy parents who are struggling can understand where their young dog’s issues may have stemmed from.

Green flags

A good breeder should be full of questions. They should be genuinely concerned about where their puppies end up and want only the best homes for them. They should ask about your current home situation: kids, current pets, working hours, access to outside etc.
First refusal. In the event that you need to rehome your puppy, a good breeder will have a stipulation upon adoption that the puppy is returned to them. Ethical breeders care about all of their dogs and will take back a puppy so that they can find a good home for them, if it happens that their first owner can no longer keep them.
Mum will be happy to see you. Responsible breeders will only breed from dogs who have a good temperament, who are not reactive or aggressive and who enjoy the company of humans. The temperament of both parents will be considered before a mating to make sure the future puppies are as well-rounded as they can be. The mother should not show any signs of worry about you being near her puppies or in her home.
Health tests. Pedigree dogs are prone to certain breed-specific health conditions. For example, golden retrievers are prone to hip/elbow dysplasia so should have their hips and elbows tested. The Kennel Club has extensive information on what tests each breed should be screened for. These tests are expensive, often needing specialist practices and there is no guarantee that a dog or bitch will pass the tests. If they fail a test, they should not be bred from as this runs the risk of passing conditions onto pups. Only ethical breeders who want to produce healthy puppies will go to this effort and expense.
Early socialisation and exposure. The best breeders will start exposing the puppies to ENS (early neurological stimulation) and ESI (early scent introduction). This involves beginning to condition the puppies to lots of new experiences, building their resilience and adaptability. This decreases the chances of fear and reactivity forming immeasurably. The will also begin the process of toilet training the puppies and introducing separations. They may also begin crate training the pups.

Red flags

You don’t meet the mother. This is the big one! If you aren’t meeting mum, there is a reason for that. Is she fearful? Aggressive? In bad condition?
Tail docking/ear clipping. This is illegal under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. I still have puppies turn up to class with docked ears and tails, the owners having been told that it is ‘fine for working dogs’. There are exemptions to this rule but there are extensive limitations. Working dogs can have their tails docked but extensive evidence has to be provided that the dog will be a working dog (just being a Jack Russel or a cocker is not enough). Here is a full breakdown of the law and exemptions.
Letting puppies go at less than 8 weeks of age. Again, this is written into law under The Animal Welfare Act, 2018. Eight weeks is the legal minimum age at which a puppy can leave its mother.
Letting you take the puppy on your first visit. A good breeder will want to get to know you and make sure you are ready for a puppy and can provide a good home. They should invite you to meet your puppy at least once before taking them home.
Puppies don’t live in the home. If the puppies live outside, then they are not getting used to all the sights, sounds and smells of living alongside us. It is crucial that they are in the home during their socialisation period.
Dirty puppies. The puppies should not have fleas, ticks or worms. They should not be covered in excrement – this is a sign that their mother is unable to care for them properly or being kept from them or that the breeder is not keeping the area well looked after.
Fearful mother. Puppies learn everything from their mother and inherit her character through their genes. If the mother is aggressive, anxious or fearful of you, then this is how your puppies have been learning to react to unknown people.
Lack of paper work. You should see health certificates for mum (and ideally, dad too). As well as this, if your dog is ‘pedigree’, you should be given (or at least shown!) a family tree.
Evasive about questions. A good breeder will jump at the opportunity to talk about their dogs and their puppies and should be able to freely answer any and every question that you have.
Asking for more money when you arrive. I’m including this one because I have had clients who this has happened to. If this isn’t a red flag, I don’t know what is! Ethical breeders do it for the love of the dogs, not money.
Puppies advertised on social media/gumtree etc. You may find good breeders this way, but you’re also guaranteed to find a lot of bad ones. Champdogs and the Kennel Club will only post litters from breeders who are meeting the health testing standards of the breed so these are your best port of call when looking for an ethical breeder. The best breeders have long waiting lists for puppies.
Large deposits. A deposit of more than 20% of the price of the puppy is something to be wary of. Deposits are often charged to cover the cost of the stud dog, as this fee is due as soon as the pups are born. Some breeders do not take a deposit at all, as they want owners to be able to change their mind if they aren’t 100% sure about a puppy. A good breeder will have a long waiting list and will not struggle to find homes for their pups.

I also hear from a lot of owners that they took the puppy, even though they knew things weren’t right with the breeder, because they didn’t want to leave the puppy there and felt they were rescuing it. Please don’t do this. All this does is create a market for the breeder. If they can sell all the puppies, even whilst giving terrible care, then they are going to breed more. Bad breeding is driven by the market and it is up to us, as consumers, to stop the demand for back yard breeding.

If you wanted to check out a shining example of the ‘gold standard’ when it comes to breeding, then Snowyoak Golden Retrievers are brilliant. You can check them out on their instagram here. When we bring home a second dog, it will be one of Agnes’ pups.

As always, I am here to help. I offer puppy consultations, both at home and online, where I can help you to identify a good breeder and assist in the process of choosing the right puppy for your home. Click here to find out more.

The Ball

Is your dog ball-obsessed? Many dogs are, but worryingly, many owners don’t know about the risks repetitive ball throwing causes – both to their dog’s body and to their behaviour. This blog aims to explain these dangers as well as to provide alternative games you and your ball-obsessed pooch can play together, that don’t pose these risks.

The dangers

We’ve all heard the old adage of ‘a tired dog is a good dog’ but a ball chasing session is going to do quite the opposite. Tracking, chasing and catching a ball is very exciting for our dogs and causes their arousal levels to shoot up. If we spend our whole walks letting them practise this behaviour, they wind themselves up further and further. This means that when you return home, far from being tired, your dog is now in a state of over-stimulation, unable to switch off and relax. The adrenaline in your dog’s body can take up to two hours to fully drain after a ball-throwing session.

Dogs also get a massive hit of adrenaline and feel good hormones when they’re surging after that ball. This feeling is very addictive and dogs can become obsessive about the ball – to their detriment. They literally become like a drug addict waiting for their next hit. And, as with all addictions, they will demand more and more of it as time goes by. This is at the expense of all the other natural behaviours that it’s important for our dogs to exhibit on walks – namely, exploring the world with their noses.

Repetitive, long-distance ball throwing also puts unnecessary strain on their joints, muscles and cartilage. This can result in long-term health problems like arthritis. However, it can be difficult to spot the early warning signs of problems developing, because the dog is so excited that they will carry on through the pain.

Alternatives

So if we shouldn’t be throwing the ball for our dogs, what can we do to play with our ball-obsessed canines? Here are some of my favourite games to play with both my own and my clients’ dogs:

Hide and seek

A fun and easy game you can play on walks or at home & in the garden. This game is brilliant because scent work is calming (and tiring!) for dogs.

Start by asking your dog to sit and wait as you place the ball on the floor.
Tell them to ‘get it’ and make a fuss when they do so.
From here, start to move the ball out of their line of sight, so they have to start using their nose to track it down. Long grass, bushes etc are great for hiding the ball.

Boop the ball

Start by holding the ball in front of your dog. When they boop it with their snoot, mark and reward with a treat. If they bop it with a paw, just ignore that and wait for a nose boop. You’ll need to spend some time building this up, then add a cue word like ‘touch’ or ‘roll’ just before they do it.
Instead of holding the ball while they boop it, progress to putting the ball on the ground and using your cue word. Hopefully, they will start to get the idea that they touch the ball, but don’t grab it or pick it up.
Keep working on building up their ball rolling using your cue word. Try to progress from little nudges to repeat pushes using their nose.

Herd the ball

Great for herding breeds (like collies) but all dogs can enjoy this game! This is great for teaching impulse control but places a lot more focus on you as part of the game than fetch does.

Dribble the ball in between your feet so your dog tracks its movements.
Kick the ball out for them to intercept once they’ve tracked it for a while.
Build up how long they have to track it before releasing.

It’s also important to note that we shouldn’t be using tennis balls to play with our dog. The surface of a tennis ball is abrasive. Having a dog’s teeth scuffed by a tennis ball entering their mouth (or worse, having them chew on it) acts like sandpaper, wearing down their teeth over time.

Even the ‘dog safe’ tennis balls on the market aren’t safe; anything with a fuzzy surface causes the wearing away of their teeth. Rubber balls are a safer option but it’s important to make sure that your dog can’t fit the entire ball in their mouth, else this poses a choking/swallowing hazard.

It is also important to note that while there is a vast amount of anecdotal evidence around ball throwing, there have yet to be any studies conducted into the behavioural/physical impacts of playing fetch. However, there have been many studies conducted showing that over-excitement can very easily tip into over-arousal and an anxious state.

Attention seeking

Barking, whining, jumping up, squeaking, bringing you toys, staring at you with a wagging tail – I think we all recognise the signs of a dog who is after our attention! As much as they would like us to, it is not possible to give your dog attention all of the time – and it wouldn’t be in their best interests anyway.

So how do we manage attention seeking behaviour? Let’s take a look.

What is your dog communicating

We are often told to ignore attention-seeking behaviour but this seems wild to me. We wouldn’t ignore a friend if they asked for our attention by texting to say hello, we wouldn’t ignore a child communicating their need for physical touch – so why is the first port of call to ignore our dogs’ cries for attention?

Yes, we often want to ignore unwanted behaviours so we don’t inadvertently reinforce them (e.g. jumping up) but if your dog is asking for attention, there may be an unmet need there. Pay attention to the time of day that your dog is bothering you – is it always around the same time? Always before or after the same event?

They may be bored, hungry, needing the toilet or – as is often the case – overstimulated and unable to settle.

I try to spend the mornings catching up on paperwork and admin tasks and this is the time that Kenny is most likely to ask for attention. He will entertain himself for a while – chasing his ball around, looking out the window at people on the school run – but by around 9:30/10:00, he’s at his limit and will start looking at me and squeaking. He’s bored and starting to get frustrated. This is my cue to start getting ready to talk him for his walk. Yes, it can be a bit annoying to have to cut my work short but I got a high-energy, working breed for a reason and it wouldn’t be fair of me to be irritated by him being true to his nature.

I am lucky to be self-employed and able to plan my day around my dog’s walk but if this weren’t the case, I could give him a piece of enrichment to tide him over or get a dog walker in to take him for a morning walk. Ignoring him certainly wouldn’t help – he’d only find ways of entertaining himself (that would probably involve pestering the cats or eating my shoes).

How do we meet this need

If your dog is bothering you and they haven’t been outside to potty for a while, haven’t had a meal or their walk, then the answer is clear. If you meet this need, they’ll stop bothering you.

The difficulty comes when, on the face of it, all of your dog’s needs have been met and yet they are still whining at you – wanting to play, have pets and generally be the centre of your attention. They’ve had their walk, you’ve tried lick mats, chews, snuffle mats, tug of war and yet they’re still on your case for more. This is common in puppies/young dogs and working breeds.

This is when we need to consider if we are doing too much for our dogs. A bored dog looks very similar to a dog who is over-stimulated. If we are constantly throwing activities at our dogs, particularly if we are giving them multiple walks a day, then we are constantly stacking them and never giving them a chance to properly unwind. This can tip them into a state of constant over-arousal, where they don’t know how to switch off because they’ve become addicted to this busy state.

If this is the case, it’s also very likely that your dog is not getting enough quality rest. An adult dog should be getting around 14 hours of sleep a day, but often, they will need even more than this. If your dog is constantly ‘on the go’ then they can’t be getting this vital rest.

Imagine what would happen if a toddler was sleep deprived on a long term basis – their behaviour would become very difficult to manage very quickly.

You may need to allow your dog to switch off by doing less and teaching them to settle.

Teaching a self-settle

Once you’ve established whether all your dog’s needs are being appropriately met, you may need to focus on teaching your dog to be calm.

For the average working dog, 1-2 hours walking a day with another hour of play/enrichment should be more than enough to keep them calm, happy and fulfilled. They should also have days off from walking every now and then, to give them a chance to recharge properly.

This means, your dog is going to have time at home where they aren’t asleep or engaging with you where they need to either: a) entertain themselves or b) be comfortable doing nothing.

Like anything, these are skills that we can teach. We want to be promoting independence in our dogs by letting them make choices.

The ‘place’ command can also be a useful way of teaching calmness for your dog. This command is great because it’s teaching them that if they go on their bed and hang out, then good things will happen.

And that’s it! This is how we can help our dogs (and ourselves!) with attention-seeking behaviours.

If you find that your dog is needier with one member of the family, this is quite common. They will generally seek attention more from their primary care giver. They are also very good at working out who is the most likely to give in to their attempts. My dog doesn’t squeak at my partner for walks, because it’s always me who takes him!

As always, if you need any help identifying your dog’s needs or teaching them independence or a self-settle then I am here to help, either in person or online. Click here to drop me a message.

Dogs & fireworks

Remember, remember the 5th of November… means lots of dogs are going to be very scared by fireworks. Many dogs struggle to cope with loud, unexpected noises and fireworks are up there with one of the loudest sounds that domesticated dogs will have to cope with.

Firework season is well and truly upon us and with perhaps the biggest firework night of the year just around the corner, I thought it would be useful to offer some tips and insights into how to help your dog cope.

Signs of stress

It’s important to be able recognise the signs that your dog is anxious/scared, as not all dogs show distress in an obvious way. Watch out for: pacing, whale eye, lip licking, drooling, panting, stiff posture, slowly wagging tails (tails may also be held upright) and, of course, barking or howling.

Helping your fearful dog

Try to make sure that your dog has had their needs met on days when you can expect fireworks. A stimulating walk, lots of enrichment (sniffing, licking, chewing activities) and plenty of sleep so that their stress levels are as low as possible before the event may help them to cope.

If you can, try to distract your dog by playing their favourite game with them while the worst of the ‘bangs’ are happening. If they are so fearful that they cannot be distracted, then use a soft, calm voice to soothe them. Dogs are den animals and having a place to retreat to like a covered crate or cosy spot may help to make them feel safer.

You can also try to drown out the sound of fireworks with other noise. Studies have shown that soft rock and reggae music have the most calming effects on dogs (so pop on the Bob Marley!).

Preventing & reconditioning fear

When it comes to dog behaviour, prevention is always better than cure. This means that if you have a young dog or a dog who has never had experience of fireworks, we want to make sure that we habituate them to fireworks.

Alexa, Google and Youtube all have firework tracks freely available. Start off by playing the sounds on the lowest volume, so it is barely audible and your dog pays no attention. Whilst the fireworks are sounding, you want to reward your dog (either with high value treats or through playing with them) so that whilst they hear the sound, they are forming positive associations. You can also have a training session, running through the commands that they know whilst the sounds are playing.

If your dog shows no signs of stress or anxiety (look for the signs mentioned above), then you can increase the volume a notch. If your dog begins to look stressed, drop the volume back down immediately, or turn it off if you need to.

Repeat at your dog’s pace, until the firework sounds are loud enough to mimic the sounds of real fireworks in your neighbourhood, making sure that your dog is comfortable the whole time.

If you do this with a young puppy (who is still within their socialisation period) then you should move through the training very quickly. If you have an older dog or a dog who is already fearful of fireworks, then the training may take several weeks. Training sessions work best in short bursts of 5-10 minutes but it is so important to stop immediately if your dog becomes distressed, as this will only further exacerbate their fears.

To read more about habituation and the importance of it, as well as ideas of what to habituate your puppy with, check out this blog post.

It is also really important not to have your dog outside during fireworks, even if they are okay with them inside the house. Many dogs will escape gardens or injure themselves due to fear and if you are out walking when fireworks go off, dogs are prone to running off in panic and slipping collars and harnesses.

As always, I am here to help. If your dog is becoming distressed during firework season and you don’t feel confident helping them alone, click here to drop me a message.

Separation anxiety

Separation anxiety is a very distressing behaviour to have to cope with – both for the dog and their owner and it is not a niche problem. It is estimated that as many as 55% of dogs in the Uk struggle with separation anxiety, but in reality, that figure may well be a lot higher.

With the number of owners I have enquiring about SA training and the prevalence of the problem, I wanted to break down the different types of separation related behaviours, as separation anxiety is often used as a blanket time when there are, in fact, three main categories that dogs will fall into with their distress. ‘Separation anxiety’ is not a category in itself.

Isolation distress

This is a dog who cannot cope with being alone, without people. As long as they have a person with them, then they are fine.

Hyper-attachment

This is a dog who has an unhealthily strong attachment to a particular family member. They cannot cope without this person, even if other people remain with them.

Frustrated dogs (FOMO)

This is a dog with ‘fear of missing out’. These dogs are not feeling anxiety at being left alone, but frustration at not being involved. These dogs tend to have quite a low tolerance for frustration in general (for example, they may be reactive). These cases tend to involve younger, high-energy breeds who are not having their needs met.

Often, the behaviours displayed present in the same way as isolation distress or hyper-attachment but because FOMO doesn’t come from a place of anxiety/fear, it requires a different approach in treatment, so it is important to rule out FOMO in SA cases.

Signs that your dog is distressed in your absence include: barking, whining, pacing, excessive drooling, inability to settle, destruction and toileting inside.

If your dog is struggling with being apart from you then identifying the type of SRB that your dog has is the first step in treatment for them. No matter how impossible the situation may seem, it is absolutely possible to help your dog with the right support.

As many as 80% of behavioural issues in dogs are driven by an underlying medical issue, so it is important to speak with your vet about running a health check in the first instance.

From there, it is a case of long-term commitment to the training to teach your dog that being alone is not something to be scared of. If your dog is showing signs of SRB, or you would like advice on if your dos is anxious in your absence, click here to drop me a message.

Introducing unfamiliar dogs

Not all of us are comfortable meeting new people. We may feel shy, self-conscious or out of place in a room full of new people but happy and confident when surrounded by close friends & family. Or, we may love social interactions and thrive off of meeting new people. The key is: every person is different and our dogs work in much the same way.

Some dogs enjoy meeting other pooches and enjoy a butt-sniff and maybe a game of chase. Others can take it or leave it and mostly ignore other dogs they come across. However, there are some dogs who are reactive and fearful when they see another dog and this can cause complications for owners should they ever need to introduce another dog.

As a dog trainer, I am often asked by people how they should introduce their nervous or reactive dog to another dog, whether it be a friend’s dog or new puppy. There is no sure fire way to secure a positive introduction but there is a set of steps that you can take to make an introduction as stress-free as possible for all dogs (and people!) involved:

Step 1: following

You want your introduction to take place on neutral ground, preferably a quieter location. Your garden is not neutral ground; this is your dog’s space. Quiet roads surrounding one of your houses, a nature reserve or the best option is a private field for hire (if one of the dogs is very nervous).

Have the dogs on lead and walk one behind the other. You want a fair bit of distance between them, think 10+ meters. The more nervous dog should follow behind. This allows the dog to smell and get information about the other dog from a safe distance and get to know them before meeting them head on. If either dog shows any signs of nervousness or over-excitement, increase the distance between them.

Once the dogs have settled into the walk, swap them over (not allowing a greeting whilst you swap!) and repeat a few times until they are calm. You can slowly decrease the distance between them, without actually letting them greet each other.

Step 2: parallel walking

Once the dogs are comfortably taking it in turns to walk behind each other, you can start walking parallel. Again, start with some distance between you. The dogs can look at each other but any overreaction (barking, pulling, whining, growling, lunging) and you need to increase the distance or go back to step 1.

As you walk, gradually decrease the distance between you until the dogs are walking side-by-side. Allow them to walk next to each other, greeting each other if they wish, for no more than 3 seconds and then walk them apart again. Repeat until the dogs are happily walking side-by-side, not paying each other any mind.

Step 3: home turf

You may need to repeat steps 1 & 2 several times, over the course of several weeks, before you can get to this stage. You cannot rush a reactive dog and need to move at their pace.

Once both the dogs are comfortably walking in tandem for extended periods and perhaps they’ve enjoyed an off-lead walk together (assuming they have reliable enough recall to be allowed off-lead) then you can introduce a home visit.

It’s a good idea to keep both dogs on lead. You may also need to create separate spaces for them to retreat to if they become overwhelmed. Don’t leave one dog alone without people, you may need to split into two groups.

Keep an eye on body-language: we don’t want to see any stiffness or tension. Tails should be soft and body language should be floppy. If the dogs play, you want to be seeing green-flag behaviour outweighing red-flag behaviour.

And that’s it! You know your dog best and how you think they will react to a new dog in their space. Some dogs are completely fine to meet at home on the first meeting whereas others may take weeks, if not longer, of step 1 & 2 before step 3 is an option. Move at their pace and don’t rush it.

And as always, if you are unsure or worried about an introduction for your dog, click here to drop me a message.

Adopting littermates

I am fortunate enough to spend a lot of time working with puppies and their owners and often, I am asked by prospective puppy parents about adopting two puppies from the same litter. Many cite the fact that the puppies will be able to keep each other company or that training two at the same time makes sense but whilst it may seem like a good idea, adopting littermates actually makes life a lot more complicated.

Littermate Syndrome

Littermate syndrome is a term which describes unwanted behaviours between sibling dogs. Most commonly, these behaviours are aggression and intense attachment between the littermates. Littermate syndrome can also form between young, unrelated dogs in the same household.

Littermate syndrome occurs when two (or more) puppies do not correctly learn to interact with other people and dogs. Pups who have developed littermate syndrome form such a strong attachment that they become highly dependent on each other, at the expense of other relationships (both human and canine). This happens because the littermates bond so intensely with each other that they do not form proper connections with their human family.

Littermate syndrome can form if puppies are kept in the same household, beyond the usual period of between 8 – 12 weeks.

Signs of Littermate Syndrome

Fearfulness when presented with unfamiliar people, things, places and environmental stimuli (e.g. strange noises)
High anxiety if separated from their littermate
Unwillingness to eat without their sibling present
Reluctancy to play when separated from their sibling
Struggling with basic training and commands
Aggression between the littermates

Challenges of Littermate Syndrome

Puppies with littermate syndrome form hyper-attachments with each other. This can mean they fail to learn to play and communicate with other dogs, which in turn can result in fear & aggression towards other dogs.
As littermates are often so focused on each other, they may also fail to learn to engage correctly with humans
You triple your workload in terms of training; the puppies must be trained separately and together
Attacks between littermates are more common than between unrelated dogs in the same household

Preventing Littermate Syndrome

The easiest way to prevent littermate syndrome, is not to adopt two puppies from the same litter – or to have two dogs under the age of 1 in the same household.
Treat the dogs as individuals. Spend time with each dog independently each day, playing, training and exercising.
Train the dogs together as well. Teach them to listen to you in each other’s company.
Gradually separate the puppies – use separate crates, feed them in separate rooms, take them outside at different times.
Socialise them well with other dogs, animals and people during the crucial socialisation period.

This does not mean that you should not adopt puppies from the same litter but be aware of the challenges and prepared to spend the time preventing littermate syndrome from developing.

It is also really important to note that adopting a brother and sister from the same litter presents an additional challenge when the dogs reach sexual maturity. Depending on breed, a bitch can have her first season as young as 5 months of age. She will need to be kept entirely separate from her brother at this point, as dogs do not follow the same patterns as humans and she will mate with her brother. Neutering is not an option that should be taken lightly, as there are significant dangers to heath (both physical and mental) associated with early neutering (early neutering is generally considered to be any neutering done before 18 months of age).

Many breeders will not allow two puppies to go to one household and so if a breeder does not mention littermate syndrome and question your preparedness to prevent it, then this is a red flag.

If you are considering bringing home littermates and would like advice on preventing it or if you think your dogs might be exhibiting signs of littermate syndrome, then click here to get in touch.

If your dog is attacked

As a dog owner, my dog being attacked is my worst fear. Dog attacks are all too common and sadly, we can’t always prevent them from happening. So what should you do in those crucial moments and days after your dog has been attacked?

Being attacked by another dog is about the most stressful thing that can happen for our dogs. They will have entered fight or flight during the attack and their cortisol levels (stress hormone) will be sky-high. This moves them into a state of chronic stress. It’s really important that we manage this stress correctly as reactivity following an attack is a very common (and completely understandable) response for our dogs.

During the attack

Do not put your hands into a dog fight, this puts you at great risk of being bitten (by both the attacker and your own dog).
If both dogs are on lead, lengthen your lead (or drop it completely) to give your dog space to get away from the attack
Startle the other dog. Make yourself big (stand in a starfish) and shout in a loud, firm voice, “NO, GET OFF, BACK!”. You want to startle the other dog to create a pause in the attack to get your dog away.
If the other dog is on lead, maintain this big, loud stance. Your body is very powerful and dogs are not used to seeing people stand and move this way so it should give you the space to get your dog away.
Get away and get your dog on lead and back to the car/home ASAP. Get them back to their safe space so they can begin decompressing and processing.
Assess the damage. You may need to take your dog to the vet if skin has been broken.

Days following the attack

Studies have shown that this cortisol takes a full 72 hours (3 days) to drain from a dog’s system completely. This means no walks – even walks where you think you won’t see another dog, for 3 days. Whilst their cortisol levels are elevated, they have very little room to handle additional stress before tipping back over into that fight/flight response. Walks are, by their nature, stressful experiences for our dogs. Yes, most of the stress is positive, but by exposing our dogs to further triggers immediately after an attack we are greatly increasing the chance for reactivity to occur.
Promote calmness at home. Rather than walks, we want to be building confidence and reducing stress. Scent games, scatter feeding, snuffle mats, Kongs, lick mats, training games – all these are great ways to tire your dog out mentally and physically without adding to their stress levels.

Weeks following the attack

Despite what we might think, getting your dog to play with other dogs is not a way to help them after an attack. It is likely that another dog coming into their space will cause stress and interacting with unknown dogs is always a risk. Keep your distance from unknown dogs.
Create positive experiences with other dogs around. This doesn’t have to be interacting with other dogs directly but could be playing a fun game with you when a dog is nearby or snuffling for treats in some grass as another dog walks past. Show your dog that good things happen when dogs are around.
Gradually reintroduce walks. Your dog may find it helpful to have a walk every other day, to allow them time to process and decompress fully between each walk. You could drop down to only having a half hour walk for a week or two. Listen to your dog and don’t try to do too much, too quickly.

It is worth noting that every dog is different. I know dogs who have been viciously attacked, with broken skin and stitches needed, who are completely fine and still unbothered by other dogs. On the other hand, I know dogs who have only been snapped at by another dog and who are now very reactive. Until the initial wave of cortisol has flushed away, it’s impossible to know where your dog might sit in terms of their reaction to dogs moving forward.

As always, prevention is better than cure when it comes to dog attacks. To prevent an attack from happening in the first place, keep your dog on lead if their recall is unreliable and don’t allow extended interactions with unfamiliar dogs. However, an attack can still happen even if we do everything right so knowing how to handle one is important.

If your dog is struggling with a lack of confidence and reactivity, then I am here to help. I am a qualified Reactivity Specialist and have worked extensively with reactive dogs from chihuahuas to rottweilers. All dogs (and owners!) deserve happy, stress-free walks and it is absolutely possible to rehabilitate a reactive dog.

To read more about my work with reactivity, click here to see my client stories.

Refusal on walks?

Often when I start working with a new dog, their owners tell me that their dog is not interested in treats on walks, won’t play with other dogs around or has gone off their favourite food. As a trainer, this is immediately important as this tells us a lot about what is going on for our dogs in those moments.

Stress

When our bodies experience acute stress (both ours and our dogs’!), we go into fight or flight. We produce a surge of adrenaline so that we are faster and stronger and our pain receptors are dulled, which mans we have a higher heart rate, higher blood pressure and higher respiration rate. For our dogs, this might activate during a firework display or when being chased by another dog. For a fearful dog, this response can be activated purely by seeing a dog at some distance away.

However, this response is not maintainable for more than a few minutes. We cannot keep increasing our blood pressure; we would die.

After a few minutes, we switch from an acute stress response (fight or flight) and to a chronic stress response. Adrenaline switches off and cortisol (the stress hormone) starts being released. And it is this state of prolonged stress that can be really damaging to our dogs.

If you picture a time when you were stressed and think about the effect that this had on your body. Many people lose their appetite, may experience auto-immune responses (like eczema), hair loss, poor sleep, depression, anxiety, weight loss/gain. This is the same for our dogs.

Also, when in a state of chronic stress, mammalian brains have a reduced sensitivity to reward. This means we are less motivated by things we would normally love and this is why our dogs won’t take cheese at the vet, won’t accept chicken at the groomers, why they won’t want to play ball in the dog park and why they may freeze when they are walking along a road that is busy with traffic. A high state of chronic stress.

If your dog is exhibiting this reaction of refusal, then this is a big sign that they are experiencing chronic stress. It may be that this stress has only lasted for a few minutes (for example if going to the vets for a one off trip) but what is a real concern is if this state of stress is prolonged over time. For example, a reactive dog who is being walked every day and exposed to their triggers multiple times, again and again, will constantly be flooded with cortisol.

So what can we do?

If you have a dog who is showing signs of refusal, linked with chronic stress, then it’s important that we look at strategies to reduce their cortisol levels as a priority. We can look at enrichment, distraction strategies and how to reduce exposure to triggers.

We also need to look at how to expand their capacity to cope with stress, so they have more room to hold stress before tipping over into fight/flight and then a chronic stress response.

All of this ground work needs to be laid before we can begin to think about reconditioning our dogs to the idea that their trigger is not scary. This means that we cannot help a reactive dog simply by giving them a tasty treat every time they see their trigger, as this is not helping them out of their state of high stress.

If you have a dog who you think may be experiencing chronic stress, reactivity or refusal, then click here to drop me a message.

Adolescence

Have you been in the position where your perfect puppy with a solid recall, good manners and wonderful listening skills seemingly woke up one day and turned deaf and chose violence? Well, you’re not alone! Welcome to adolescence.

Adolescence is the dog equivalent to the teenage years and they are just as challenging for owners as these years can be to parents (although thankfully, in dogs it doesn’t last for as long!). Generally, this starts at around 6 months of age and can last until around 2 years of age (depending on breed).

Adolescence is the stage in which dogs are noy yet fully grown or socially mature but where where they begin the process of being sexually mature; female dogs come into season and male dogs’ testosterone will start to come through. During this period, our dogs have reduced impulse control and it is also the period during which a dog is most likely to be rehomed.

But WHY?!

Why is adolescence so challenging? Well, there is actually some evolutionary science behind it. Adolescence has developed as a family relationship test and it occurs in all social mammals who live in groups (like dogs and humans).

Only the familial bonds that are strong enough will tolerate the teenage rebellion and challenging behaviours that come with it and so the genes of those whose family did not continue to love and support them through this time were not passed on. This results in the dogs (and humans!) whose families continued to support them through adolescence, rather than removing them from the family group, being the ones who survived. And here we are!

How to handle adolescence

The good news is that adolescence does not last forever. At around 2, our dogs reach full maturity and have finished growing and developing, both physically and cognitively. Luckily, it isn’t just a case of waiting it out and there are also some things that we can do for our dogs to set them up for success in this time.

Enrichment

It’s really important to continue to nurture your dog during this time and make sure you are providing lots of enrichment opportunities to keep their minds busy. Scent games, natural chews and lick mats/kongs are a great way to calm your dog down and tire them out.

Over-exercising

Don’t over walk your dog during this time. When our dogs offer us unwanted behaviour, it can be tempting to think that it’s because they aren’t being entertained enough. This may be true, but adding to their walks is likely going to overwhelm them and lead to further poor decisions being made. Look for ways to replace an extra walk with some calming enrichment instead.

Positivity

Try to keep your calm. During this period, it can be very difficult to keep a level head and stay positive with your dog. Just remember, this will pass! You are the most important thing to your dog and a telling off from you can be really damaging to our dog’s confidence.

Training

This is the big one. It’s really important to keep up your dog’s training during this time. Their brain goes through an almost complete rewiring during adolescence and they will need to be retaught things (even the most basic things like ‘sit’!). Training isn’t something that is ever ‘finished’ and should be ongoing. Practising with your dog every day, at home and on walks, by doing what they already know and introducing new commands will keep learning fresh and exciting. Crucially, continuing to train and reward your dog will mean that listening to you is fun and rewarding and will mean your pooch is more inclined to choose to respond to you, even when there’s other exciting things going on.

Other than that, it’s just a case of waiting it out and taking the bad with the good. There will be good days and bad days and every dog is different: some struggle more with this period than others.

If you are unsure of how to handle adolescence or are looking for some guidance in general, click here to drop me a message or give me a call.