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Want to communicate more effectively with your dog? Solve a behavior problem? Do you want to become a better owner? Read on!
· Common health problems and how they affect behavior
· Why some people are prone to being bitten and how to prevent your dog from being the next one to bite them
· Seventeen kinds of problem owners and how they influence their dogs’ behavior
AUTHOR’S BIO
Bill Campbell has been helping dog owners for more than 20 years through his private consulting service, magazine articles, and pamphlet series dispensed by veterinarians. His 1975 text, Behavior Problems in Dogs, is a classic in its field. Bill and his wife Peggy live on a ranch near Grants Pass, Oregon.
REVIEWS
“Whatever behaviors you find objectionable on the part of your pet, you will find the explanation in this book.” (Jack Volhard, trainer, author)
“Owner’s Guide to Better Behavior in Dogs should be skimmed for sheer Pleasure before delving into for its wisdom.” (Enid Bergstrom, Dog World)
“They used to kick ill-behaved dogs…Now intelligent people read Better Behavior in Dogs. Read it.” (Roger Caras, ABC News)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Introduction by R. M. Miller, DVM
Preface
PART I UNDERSTANDING YOUR DOG
Understanding Dog Behavior
Natural Reactions of the Dog
How Dogs Sense Their World
How Your Dog Communicates
Social Development
The Puppy Primer
Puppy Training
Adopting a Dog
PART II WHAT CAUSES A DOG TO MISBEHAVE?
How People and the Environment Create
Behavior Problems
How Health and Nutrition Affect Your Dog
Analyzing and Treating the Cause of the Problem
PART III CORRECTING BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS
Aggression Toward Owners
Babies, New Pets, and Dogs
Barking
Biting
Car Sickness
Chasing Cars and Boundary Training
Chewing
Coprophagia
Digging
Escaping
Fearfulness (Phobias)
Fighting Other Dogs
House Training
Jumping on People
Killing Animals
Leash-Straining
Old Age Problems
Overprotectiveness
Self-Mutilation
Shyness
Swallowing Non-Foods
Sympathy Lameness
Unruliness
Wetting Submissively
Whining
PART IV WHEN YOU NEED MORE HELP
Selecting a Behavior Consultant
Obedience Training
Helpful Reading
Index
About the Author
EXCERPT
Chapter 1
How a Dog Thinks
When you are trying to housetrain a new puppy, correct an adult dog from soiling in the house or solve a destructive chewing problem, you will be successful far more quickly if you understand how your dog thinks. If you know this, you can appreciate how the dog learns. Armed with this knowledge you can use methods that communicate humanely, naturally and effectively. So let’s investigate the mind of the dog.
How Dogs Think
First we have to ask if dogs think at all. Some experts are of the opinion that dogs don’t think, they merely behave. However, the popular definitions of thinking, “to form or have in mind” and “to intend, plan” certainly fit the way dogs behave. They plan to get petted when they approach us and nudge for it. They have in mind greeting us when they wag their tails and go to the door when they hear our car pull into the garage, etc. They may not think in the complex, abstract way as do we humans, but they certainly think nonverbally. A famous learning scientist who worked with flatworm behavior said, “If you’re going to study flatworm behavior, you’d better learn to think like a flatworm.” With this attitude, he made notable contributions to the mechanics of learning in all animals. With this principle in mind, we’ll consider evidence about how dogs think. When we gain some insight about this, the various ways to influence their behavior become infinitely more understandable and appealing than simply trying to influence their behavior.
One thing seems certain: Dogs don’t think in verbal language. They have never been seen sitting around in groups, making well-defined noises, as if having a chat. The noises they make usually relate to emotional expressions or attempts to gain attention, as in barking angrily at another dog approaching their property, or woofing at the back door to get us to let them into the house. So, if they don’t use words to think, what do they use?
Images and Senses
The most appealing evidence suggests that dogs think in images and other sensory impressions, such as sounds and odors. This is not to say that they sit around on quiet days experiencing videos inside their brains. However, they likely share our ability to form in their minds images and experience certain odors and sounds. A scientific basis for this idea came from Russia and was published in the United States in 1973. A scientist named Rusinov was studying the electrophysiology of the brain and had several dogs permanently wired with brain-wave equipment and radio transmitters. When the dogs were brought into the lab from the kennels for experimental conditioning tests, the electroencephalograph machine was turned on and recorded their brain-wave patterns. This was done at the same time each day, five days a week. Purely by accident, one weekend Rusinov brought a group of visitors into the lab and turned on the EEG machine. Lo, the dog that was on schedule for tests at that time was sending wave forms nearly identical to his weekday working patterns! When the testing time passed, the dog’s brain waves soon returned to normal, “at rest” forms. I never found any mention by Rusinov as to whether the dogs out in the kennel were actually performing their laboratory-conditioned behaviors. Chances are they were not, but one thing is almost sure: They were apparently experiencing them mentally. However, Rusinov’s work showed that his dogs could keep a biological clock on such experiences. It was found to be accurate to within thirty seconds in a twenty-four- hour time period!
The late Polish scientist, Jerzi Konorski, taught dogs to salivate and expect food in their trays when a light flickered. This was done regularly every few mintues. However, after a few trials, the dogs started salivating and looking at the trays as if the food were actually there even though the light had not flickered. Konorski ventured that the dogs were hallucinating about both the stimulus (the light) and the reward for salivating (the food). One thing is certain: Something was happening in the dogs’ minds that made them behave as if the actual experiences were occurring.
Some Human Examples
Before going on with dogs, let’s think about our own “mind’s eye.” Imagine we have a date to meet someone we are particularly fond of at a busy restaurant. We arrive a few minutes early and sit a table near the door. The appointed time goes by and we begin to wonder if they are coming. We start watching people approach the door. Pretty soon, even those with similar features almost cause us to call out to them. Most of us have had these experiences, just as thinking about a loved one often conjures up a brief mental image of them. This often applies to the sound of their voice as well. Think about your favorite musical piece and your can almost “hear” it. These are all positive images. They are emotionally pleasant. On the other hand, recalling terrifying experiences can not only create their images, but even make us shudder. This is an example of negative images. They are emotionally unpleasant.
It is important to remember that we humans can discuss the nature of our mental impressions about life and the people around us. When Peggy, my wife, leaves for town on a stormy day and says, “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” then gets bogged down with some errand for several hours without calling to let me know, I get concerned. I might even imagine she has been in an accident. I start going to the window when cars slow down in front of the house. In a word, I am anxious. When she finally does get home, I’m happy and relieved. So it is with our dogs. When we are late getting home, or if they over-miss us because we have spoiled them, they worry in images. They probably can’t abstractly imagine (form images of) car accidents, but they can recall images of us and our activities at home, such as fluffing the pillows on the sofa, putting away record albums, handling magazines and books, putting on shoes just before leaving, sitting in a favorite armchair, etc. As a result, when we are gone, they often engage in activities which involve them with these articles or activities. So the pillows may wind up on the floor, albums or magazines may be moved or chewed, a chair seat dug up, shoes brought out of the closet. The dogs want our presence and try to experience things which are symbolic of us.
While our dogs cannot think verbally about life’s experiences, it is likely these experiences are stored as images in their memory banks and are responsible for much of the dogs’ behavior, or misbehavior.
Now consider the new puppy whose owner comes home regularly and joins in the ecstatic joy of the typical greeting ceremony. As this becomes ingrained, the dog begins anticipating the experience. As will happen in even the most well-regulated household, one day the owner is late. The puppy begins fretting, pacing. Well-primed energies begin demanding an outlet. What’s going on in his mind? Probably, in his mind’s eye or ear, he imagines hearing footsteps, perhaps even seeing the door open . . . which doesn’t happen. But it should. This introduces a conflict between what the puppy expects and reality. Conflict creates frustration. Frustration produces anxiety, which produces a rush of adrenalin, which produces activity. The pup searches for something to satisfy his desire to “experience” the owner. He comes upon a magazine or book he saw the owner reading recently. It is rich with the owner’s scent. If he cannot have the owner’s presence, he can at least have the odor, even the taste. So he sniffs, tastes, sometimes even swallows parts of the article. Of course, none of this fully substitutes for the whole owner, so we can’t say the puppy’s desires are fully satisfied.
Then comes the owner. The puppy innocently launches into the joyous, semi-hysterical ritual. The owner starts to join in, but spies the magazine or book, now torn to shreds. Quite naturally, if not wisely, the owner angrily grabs the pup, drags him to the pulverized object and scolds or slaps his snout or rump, or both. The pet’s single-track attention is riveted on the owner. He yips, rolls over or tries vainly to escape. The owner, growling, picks up the remnants of the article and storms to the trash basket. The confused pup now has a brand new, conflicting image of his owner. This sort of shock to the nervous system, both in animals and humans, is called psychic trauma. A conflict has been instilled between the positive image of the owner (happy Dr. Jekyll) and the negative (Mr. Homecoming Hyde). The conflict creates frustration and anxiety about homecomings, especially when this treatment is repeated a few times. Since the punishment was not associated with the act of chewing up something, the puppy seeks out another article, perhaps a shoe, and the punishment cycle is repeated until the relationship between owner and dog is now emotionally ambivalent. They have mixed feelings about each other. Their relationship is deteriorating. The owner often concludes the punishment was not severe enough. That’s why the correction was not permanent. So he intensifies it. The relationship erodes further as weeks go by. Enough of this cascading, negative effect and the owner is ready take drastic action. The maturing pup, now highly sensitized to his owner’s mood change, feels something is wrong. This can often be reflected by new problems, such as submissive wetting when the owner comes home or approaches at other times, off-schedule bowel movements or urination, etc. The puppy acts insecure, currying more favor when the owner is home, but missing the owner even more acutely when left alone. Frustration and anxiety build while the isolation-related, tension-relieving behavior mounts.
The unwitting owner, who originally may have thought the pup was “getting even” for being left alone, begins to consider the now maturing dog as incorrigible. Outside help is sought. A book may be purchased. A veterinarian, breeder, pet shop, or trainer may be consulted. The dog may wind up in a cramped crate or cage all day, in the yard or garage, or with his mouth stuffed with chewed debris and taped shut for hours. Or, too often, he may end up at the local pound with a potential life span of another five to seven days.
Is this because the owner was not aware of how dogs think? Probably not. It is more likely due to ignorance of the dog’s needs. However, with an understanding of how our dogs think, let’s analyze the key behavioral elements of housetraining a puppy or older dog to see how it is applied. We’ll take it in a series of steps.
Housetraining: A Positive Framework
1. Teach the dog that you are his leader and teacher. Each time the pup seeks your affection, have him sit for a few seconds. Praise and pet, then release him. This instills positive feelings about following your instructions.
2. Positively reinforce proper behavior. After eating, drinking water, excitement, chewing for more than a few minutes or awakening, even from a nap, shoo him to his toilet place and stand still. When he does his duty, go to the spot and point at the “stuff,” saying, “Good toilet” or some other name you choose. Present positive impressions of the “stuff” at the proper place. If you catch the dog starting to sniff or posturing to “go” in the house, clap your hands once, or knock once on a table top or wall, and immediately praise with “Good dog” the interruption in his thinking about urinating or defecating.
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