DOG TRAINING AND BEHAVIOR

Do Dogs Fall in Love?

What is it about these dogs relationships that resembles human love? These pairs always get upset when separated and usually try to comfort each other, says Ms. Hirsch. The males tend to become protective of the females when they perceive them to be around a dangerous person or in a danger situation. And the females tend to care for their guys as well, grooming them, staying by their side, and playing with them.

We Have Met The Enemy, and It Is Skateboards

My cairn terrier, Charlie, ALWAYS angrily barks at and attempts to ATTACK moving skateboarders, writes Barry Jagoda of La Jolla, California, a bustling suburb of San Diego. He doesnt go after anything else in our busy area - not buses, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, or other dogs (well, perhaps some really big ones, in addition to neighborhood cats and skunks from the nearby canyons). In Charlies previous residence in staid Georgetown, Washington, DC, skateboards were not much of a problem. But we…

People Are From Mars, Dogs Are From Venus

"Imagine reaching out to shake someone's hand," says Tufts animal behaviorist Stephanie Borns-Weil, DVM, "and the person grabs you by the shoulders and kisses you on the lips. That level of social discomfort is what a dog might feel" if he comes up to get a whiff of you, and you bend down to his face and start petting his head. From the dog's point of view, it's much too intimate a response. By walking over to sniff you, he's just making an assessment, studying you while he tips his hat, so to…

The Wrong and the Right Way to Ease Your Dog Past Fear

[From Tufts November 2012 Issue]

Tufts Behavior Clinic Director Nicholas Dodman, BVMS, tells the story of a client whose way of making her dog stop feeling scared of car rides was to drive from Massachusetts up to Northern Maine and back. It didnt work. The dog was salivating, shivering, the whole time, Dr. Dodman says. By the time the 7-hour ordeal was over, the animal was in a dreadful state.

Dr. Dodman wasnt surprised that the woman thought she was doing the right thing. There are even certain trainers, he says, who, if a dog is frightened of the sound of a boiler going on and off, will tie the dog to the boiler. The theory is that if you leave the dog there long enough, she will go numb and become habituated. Or, if the dog is scared of …

Medication as a Last Resort for your dog

In some cases, no matter how slowly you go and how patient you are, a dog's genetics or unfortunate experiences prior to coming to live with you may keep her debilitatingly fearful of some thing, or things. If it's the sound of a household object, you will probably be able to work around it. But if it's car rides, or people — that is, things in life from which you cannot keep her completely hidden — a prescription from your veterinarian for anti-anxiety medication may be in order. No one wants to give a dog behavior-modifying medications. But they are a reasonable last resort if a pet has been unresponsive to systematic desensitization and having the dog as a member of the family has become too difficult as a result.…

Air Snapping and Stargazing: It Might Be Dog OCD

A few years back, a concerned owner brought his 9-month-old castrated male schnoodle called Ozzie to see me at the Animal Behavior Clinic. Ozzie, he reported, had begun exhibiting some rather weird behaviors when he was only 6 months old. First, there is what is called stargazing behavior, in which Ozzie would suddenly freeze and stare upward at the ceiling. Then this might be interrupted by a bout of fly-snapping behavior - the same as if he were snapping at flies, except none are present. Some people describe this behavior as snapping at imaginary flies.

Owner-Directed Aggression in Dogs

Back in 2005 a troubled owner brought us her 5-month-old neutered male mixed breed dog, Chevy, for evaluation and treatment of owner-directed aggression. Specifically, Chevy had growled at and bitten his owner in various situations, all involving food or stolen objects. Some people refer to this type of aggression as possessive aggression, which is often a component of what is now known as conflict aggression.

Why Does My Dog Lick the Furniture?

Pamela Woods of Modesto, California, is frustrated. Its not that her four-year-old terrier mix, Butch Cassidy, isnt wonderful. He is. He doesnt chew things and is generally well behaved, she says. But from the time he came to live with me 16 months ago, he has been licking my furniture, my pillows, and the rug. Just before I get up, he jumps onto the bed and licks my pillow. He frequently licks the couch…

If Only My Dog Would Come When I Call

Heres the thing, says Nicholas Dodman, BVMS, DACVB, Director of the Tufts Animal Behavior Clinic. For the majority of dogs, especially young, fit, athletic breeds, walking them only on a lead is not sufficient. They need real exercise. They need to run, and they need to run off leash. Theyre bred for it. Its chapter 1 of dog ownership. I used to take my 84-year-old mother for a one-mile walk, and neither of us…

The Dog Growls When I Touch His Toys

Deborah Betson of Aurora, Colorado, has a situation. Her mixed-breed dog, Camo, has begun to growl when she tries to move any of his toys or his dog bed. She cant even move his possessions around in order to clean. She adopted Camo only recently from a Colorado correction system program that takes dogs from various shelters and gives them to prisoners to train, and the first couple of months went beautifully. In fact, Camo is…

The Three Reasons Puppies Piddle Indoors

No matter how assiduously you work to train your new puppy to relieve herself outdoors, shes going to have accidents. Thats true even if you follow all the rules: taking her out seven to eight times a day in the beginning, putting her in her crate when she doesnt go and leaving her there for 15 minutes until she builds up the urge, designating an elimination spot near the house, praising her to the hilt…

8 Canine Behaviors You Think Are Weird or Annoying

Sniffing the butts of other dogs, sniffing the groins of other people, going nuts when the mailman comes, day after day - these are just some of the behaviors your dog might engage in that you find embarrassing, annoying, or perhaps just plain weird. But one species weirdness is anothers perfectly normal way of getting on in the world. Herein, to bridge the gap between what they do and what you perceive as out-there…