And by that, I don’t mean they love witch’s cats (though they may …)!
I mean that dogs love what they know. They love familiar walks, familiar houses, familiar foods, familiar people. To keep things familiar may mean restricting the size of their world. But the pay-off in terms of a relaxed dog can be well worth it.
Dogs love to know what’s happening next. This is why they make such great stock-herders. They know that when a ewe twitches her ear or looks away from the flock, she’s about to leg it! So the dog anticipates this movement and flies into action to thwart the sheepy escape plan.
You know the flurry of activity that ensues when you put on your coat or shoes and head towards the place where the leads are kept? Same thing.
Dogs are expert at stringing events together so that they immediately know that the first event in a series means that the rest is likely to follow. This anticipation can land the clever performance dog in trouble, when he tries to perform his whole dance or obedience routine at once!
BUT … the clever dog-owner uses this knowledge to his or her advantage!
Here I explain it in more detail, so you can come away from this free Masterclass Workshop working with a new skill
What does this mean for the family dog?
It means that you can set up your own series of events which you want your dog to follow.
Each thing you do is a predictor of the next thing - all culminating in something really good!
For instance, your sequence may be
Say dog’s name
Dog looks at you
Give dog a reward
If you teach this unwaveringly, you will guarantee an ever faster response from your dog to his name! You’re pleased, he’s pleased, happiness all round!
In the same way, if your sequence is
Say dog’s name
Dog looks at you
Ignore dog,
how long is it going to be before your dog stops bothering to look at you when you say his name? You are effectively teaching him that this particular sequence is not worth following. The inherent reward (be it a food treat or racing to cut off the sheep) is not there.
This is at the basis of everything I teach, and nowhere is it more important than with the Growly Dog.
So what does this mean for the Growly Dog?
Your Growly Dog (your reactive, shy, anxious, aggressive, dog) has set up a load of event sequences in his mind.
It may be that if you go for a walk he thinks he should be on edge because other dogs are going to appear in front of him. It happens every time, so it’s bound to happen again, in your dog’s mind. So he has to take the action he has found works to keep these dogs at a distance - bark and lunge and generally look ferocious.
It may be that when visitors come to the home things are not following the script. He feels he needs to act to keep these people out, because they don’t belong here.
And for some, the growliness is focussed on cars, or children, or cyclists.
Barking and lunging temporarily gives relief from the tensions and anxieties your dog is feeling. So it becomes his go-to response. This is now his sequence! So this is where we need to change things.
The very first thing is to remove the trigger entirely - the thing that kicks off the sequence in the first place. Once your dog can experience life without the upsetting thing at all, you can monkey with his sequence and change it so that the presence of another dog / visitor / cyclist actually predicts good things!
While you teach this, keep in mind that the familiar includes your local, regular walks. Save the outings to busy places and new territories for special occasions. The comfort of the familiar will help your dog relax.
There are many articles on this site that will get you started with this major change in your life. You can make that start here.
Better still, watch our free Masterclass and learn new strategies and techniques and start using them today!
Back to the Family Dog again
One of my favourite practices is to teach all my dogs matwork from very early on. They learn to lie on their mat whenever it appears, and relax.
Their sequence becomes
Mat appears
Lie on mat
Do nothing
Can you imagine how useful this is?! It translates easily to any other parking place you want to put your dog - a bed, a chair, a step - and your dog knows the sequence.
Puppies can learn this from a very early age like young Bailey here, on Week 3 of our Puppy training. And any dog can learn it fast.
You’ll wonder how you ever managed without this skill! The ultimate off-switch for your dog!
You’ll find the whole program laid out, step by predictive step in Calm Down!
