Now, any dog behavior consultant will tell you that food aggression is an incredibly easy fix. It generally stems from anxiety and even in cases where the anxiety is deep-seated and has been going on a long time, there is a lot you can do to manage the situation and get very good results.

So what disturbed me was when the client told me that she had been watching a show on animal planet (I believe it was one of those animal rescue shows) which stated that once a dog shows food aggression then that’s it, it is euthanatized because there is no help for it. What a horrible thing for a new puppy owner to hear! And so completely untrue. What probably IS true it that that particular “rescue” group either doesn’t know how easy it is to manage and even cure food aggression, or they just don’t have the resources (or motivation) to bring in canine behavior consultant.

Frankly, if it was a rescue or shelter in my area I would happily have helped for free, in fact there are numerous canine behavior consultants like me, who donate many of their working hours a week to help dogs in shelters learn manners, and condition better responses to anxiety issues, including food aggression. There is absolutely no reason why a dog of any age should be euthanized for food aggression.

More and more people watch these shows, so they can be shocked and horrified by the way some people treat animals, then they get to feel hope and maybe even cry a little bit when that emaciated Doberman mom who was desperately trying to keep her puppies alive is rescued and all the puppies find new homes.  Then the story is ended with a rescue worker saying, “well , we found new homes for the puppies but mom was showing aggression towards other dogs so we had to euthanize her for everyone’s safety”. WHAT?! 

How long did they keep mom before they decided she was unfit for society?, Was there even a little effort made to condition her around dogs or was she just thrust into a dog run with dogs she didn’t know before she was even back to full health and body weight? Did we throw her to the proverbial wolves without even making a humane effort to help her understand that she was now safe?

Sorry for the tirade but I did say I was disheartened. Can we please stop using these stories of  cruelty and hope  for entertainment, to then just, reaffirm our inhumanity? Why are we not as horrified by the euthanizing of mom as we were by the terrible conditions she was found in?

Interested in the No Kill Movement? Try this Blog

But are biting dogs really as big a problem as we think they are? The book, Dogs Bite but balloons and slippers are more dangerous, by Janis Bradley, discusses the statistics and research involved in dog bites as well as many other significantly more dangerous causes of injury.

Reading this book will really give you a clear idea of the the real danger in this world, the hyped media reports, and misunderstanding  of how much research in this area is extrapolated data based on such a small amount of information as to make much of the results sheer guess work!

I think that one of the most interesting issues in the area of dog bites is the humans fear reaction. Given that there are so many more and worse ways to be injured, why is it that being bitten by a dog gets so much attention. I believe that my neighbor said it best when he  described the feeling as one of betrayal.

For a species that has been living closely with humans for at least 12 thousand years and possibly as much as 100 thousand years, it feels like a betrayal when that animal turns on you.This feeling of betrayal really is a primal emotion for us because people show so much outrage even when the animal that bit them was a complete stranger. Would we feel as betrayed if it had been a cat? Probably not.

The idea that dogs are “Disney” animals, bubbling over with love, loyalty, and heroism, makes it easy for us to feel a huge injustice when that animal seems to break that imaginary rule of  “man’s best friend”. In reality, dogs are fallible just like humans, maybe even because of humans! They don’t always know right from wrong, and in a moment of panic, fear, or perceived need to defend, they might indeed bite.

Should we really take so much offense, suffer a feeling of betrayal, and hold that dog responsible for not knowing a humans sense of right and wrong? Certainly a dog that has shown a low bite threshold, needs to be managed and rehabilitated if possible, but how many people are there available to put that much time and effort into the retraining? And how much of a responsibility do we have as a society to rehabilitate dogs?

Darwinistically we have a responsibility to our own species before any other,but I believe that we, as a species, have gone above and beyond the “species first” mentality that characterizes natural selection. We have loyalty, honour, heroism, and compassion. All of those traits we so look for in our canine companions, lets first find them in ourselves before expecting them from our dog.

What a fantastic book with practical applications for working with a reactive dog.

If you have never read a dog behavior book before and you are trying to work with your own, or help someone with their reactive dog, then this book will be immensely helpful.  The beginning of the book covers basic dog behavior, how dogs learn, and what can cause reactivity. Brown also covers basic learning theory and ways to manage a reactive dog safely before you even start training.

When clients call me with reactive dog issues they are scared, frustrated and want it to end… NOW please. And boy, can I relate. Dogs can become reactive for all sorts of reasons, you can have a very well socialized dog that as he gets older decides he doesn’t like to be bowled over and jumped on by ill-mannered puppies. Or maybe a single traumatic event happens and now he thinks all dogs are scary. For whatever reason you now have a reactive dog and you are struggling to manage your dog’s triggers. This situation is stressful, it is frustrating, but believe me, you are not the only one with a reactive dog and there are effective ways to manage the situation and help your dog learn to cope.

Rehabilitating a reactive dog can take weeks or months. Rehabilitation never really ends. You will always have to maintain a certain level of practice for your dog to continue to feel safe and non reactive. Learning how to rehabilitate your dog is more of a lifestyle change than a training program. This can seem daunting, but when your dog is a member of your family and a good friend, it is much more daunting to think about giving them up and passing on your responsibility to someone you don’t know and may just make things worse (yes I know I have trust issues).

So if you are struggling with a reactive dog, stop being embarrassed, realize that many people have gone through this before and have successfully  rehabilitated dogs. Get this book and get a good behaviour professional to help you out!

I had a call recently having to do with a highly reactive dog that was starting to bite and growl at his owners, the caller was a relative of one of the owners and she was certain that this bad behavior could have been prevented had the owner been more strict with their dog  “What did they expect when they allow the dog to sleep on the bed?!”  she asked me.

Is letting your dog sleep on the bed really as bad as people think? Some dog trainers still seem to think so. And certainly for a dog with uncertain boundaries in his every day life, being allowed to sleep on the bed  is likely going to promote the idea that the bed is at least partly his. This confusion in his life and in regards to the ownership of the bed can lead to exactly what my caller described. A reactive and quite possibly dangerous dog who feels it is is job to guard his bed, couch, home, food, bone, toy… etc. A dog like this doesn’t  realize that what he is doing could be worthy of capitol punishment in the human world. He is a dog that has assumed the role of “leader” for his house because he didn’t think his owners were up to the job, He is simply doing what any stressed, anxiety ridden, untrained leader would do; overreact and lash out in order to keep the troops in line.

I know, I have been there myself. I was an overworked, anxiety ridden, untrained manager in charge of a dozen teenagers in a large pet store in the US when I was just 22. I was out of my depth and had no idea how to get 12 adolescent adults to work with me or each other. I didn’t bite any of them, but I certainly was not the best manager in the world and I had been given no training to deal with the situation. Dogs get put into situations like this all the time, then punished for doing the best they can.

The thing is, all of this has absolutely nothing to do with  being allowed to sleep on the bed. Many very well known dog trainers allow their dogs access to their beds. To name a few, Suzanne Clothier, she talks about her dog’s  bed manners in Bones would rain from the Sky. Ian Dunbar allows his dogs to lay on him on the couch. I also am guilty of allowing my dogs to sleep on the bed or the couch. Do our dogs try to dominate us? Bite us? Do our dogs guard the bed or not allow us on our own couch? No, they absolutely don’t do any of these things because a bed is just a bed. In all other aspects of their lives, certainly the most important aspects, our dogs are given training, bonding, and leadership exercises as part of their every day life.

So here is the important question. If you allow your dog on the bed, will she get off if you ask her to? If the answer is yes, then great! If it is no, then maybe it is time to take a look at not just bed rules, but all the boundaries you have set for your dog and make sure she isn’t shouldering too much responsibility.

I have had a number of people give me funny looks when I recommend they play Tug with their dogs. I have heard protests from “Won’t that make my dog act aggressively?” to “It gets my dog too excited.”So lets look at this critically. Does playing Tug make a dog more aggressive or more likely to try to “dominate” their owner?

If you are a leader that your dog trusts and respects then a simple game of Tug will not change your overall relationship with your dog. Dogs see their owners a lot like parents. Their first leader is in fact their own mother. A no nonsense  dog who sets boundaries and sticks to them. If this is the kind of leader you are, then it is downright silly to think that winning a game of Tug would so alter your dog’s perception of you that he would then try to challenge your authority later on. If you are a leader that sets your boundaries and sticks to them then you probably already have rules for any game you play with your dog.

However if you are a  a bit wishy-washy in your rules and you give in a lot when the boundaries are pushed, then while playing a game like Tug you probably haven’t set up any rules for the game to begin with. What I am describing here is a situation where the dog probably already feels like he is more responsible for you then you are for him, which would make it his job to decide on the rules. Therefore the game of Tug still would not make him more dominant acting than he already is!

My point is that any game in itself is NOT going to alter the relationship you have with your dog. Tug in fact is a really fantastic way for a dog to release a lot of energy in a short period of time. So if you just don’t have time to run your dog down to the park, then maybe a game of tug for 5 minutes will work out some of those beans!

I do recommend that you have rules for the game and stick to them! Your dog likes rules and yes, they will push boundaries  in any situation (just like kids) but they push them to make sure they still exist, not to try to challenge your authority! A great rule to stick to with Tug, is always make sure you win the last game, that way you can put the toy away when you are done with it. A Tug toy should not be a toy your dog gets to play with all the time, it should be a special toy you play with together!

If you find your dog gets “too excited” when playing Tug, that’s great! It means you have a perfect opportunity to coach your dog on how to have an “off” switch. Practice playing tug then in the middle of a match (before the dog is out of control) ask for a sit and a drop-it. Then continue the Tug game as a reward for the performed cues! Repeat this process for 5 minutes, then finish the game with praise and a treat!