Phobias and Anxiety in Dogs

This adorable beagle is Boomer.  I was blessed to have him live
with me for about 15 years. He had a severe phobia of children.

Dogs sometimes experience psychological  issues.

The term "Dog Psychology" should not infer that we analyze a dog based upon his reaction to pictures of ink blots. It does not work like that, However, dogs do occasionally suffer from psychological issues.

In this blog post, I attempt to address the psychological issues associated with anxiety and phobias in dogs. Anxiety in dogs factors into a lot of behavioral issues. In order to help the dog experiencing these issues, it is important that we understand a little about dog psychology.

I work with a lot of dogs that have aggression and anxiety issues. Most of the time, these issues can be traced to some sort of trauma in earlier life. However, this is not always the case. 

Genetics

So called, "inherited" fear is sometimes seen in entire litters of puppies. This type of fear is very difficult to address with training. The fear is persistent and tends to be generalized. In other words, the pups are generally fearful and reactive. This particular abnormality is generally observable in puppy-hood . It tends to begin around two to ten months of age and never completely goes away.

Some breeds are generally highly reactive and tend to have this inherited fear. Some examples of affected breeds are German Shepherds and Pointers. However, even in the affected breeds, this does not affect every individual dog in the breed.

Early life experiences

Sometimes experiences in puppy-hood imprint on the dog and have a long lasting effect. Nervous mothers or litter mates can influence lasting anxiety on a pup. Poor nutrition in puppy-hood  can have a negative effect on early mental development. Dogs that are isolated as pups tend to be reactive and very anxious as adults. Pups need stimuli at an early age. Their emotional development is negatively impacted when they are isolated from other dogs and/or  people.

Previous Trauma

Phobias, or irrational fears, in dogs can, in many cases, be traced to some early trauma. This happens because the dog associates a seemingly benign stimulus with a traumatic event. 

For example, a dog that is abused by a child may associate the pain of the abuse with all children. This dog may become extremely fearful of children. I suspect this is what happened in the earlier life of a beagle named Boomer that I adopted many years ago. Boomer was highly fearful of and aggressive toward young children. I did not live with any children so, it was safe for me to adopt him and work with him to address the issue. He was my loyal companion from the time he was nine months old until he died as a very happy senior dog at fifteen years of age. He was really a great beagle and I was somewhat successful in my attempts to help him with the phobia in regard to children. He got much better. It took many years, but he was eventually capable of being around children without growling, snapping, whimpering or getting physically ill. However, he never really became comfortable around children. He always showed subtle signs of stress when children were present. The point is that there was hope for Boomer. In the proper environment, he thrived. He would never have been suited for a home with young children but he was a great companion for me! It is important that we not set the dog up for failure. It would have been unrealistic to have expected Boomer to ever be a good dog for a child. That is something for which he was simply not emotionally nor psychologically capable.

Yes, Boomer's fear was irrational. Not all children would hurt him. In fact many of them distributed tasty treats to him over the years, which he loved. But, he was always, at least slightly, stressed around children. Whether or not the fear is rational makes it no more or less real. Boomer's fear was very real for him. It was important that I understand that and not force him to do more than he could do.

This is Cody relaxing with me.

Dogs also frequently develop a phobia of the veterinarian. This is understandable. The dog is quite likely linking a trauma that the vet was treating with the veterinarian. For instance, shots hurt. I hate needles. Our little Cody also hates needles. He once cried loudly when the vet simply removed the cap from the end of the needle. He associated the sound with the pain. Cody now loves the vet because the nice people at the vets office are always giving him tasty treats. He knows where the treat jar is kept in the exam room and he keeps sharp focus on it the whole time he is in the room. He now associates the vets office with really good, fun, and tasty stuff! 

Effect of the owner's fear/anxiety/phobia

As I frequently mention, dogs take their cues from us. They can sense when we are stressed and this can impact them greatly. This is why it is important that we control our emotions when working with our dogs. If we get overly excited, they in turn, become stressed.

For instance, when working with a dog that is scared of thunder, it is important that during a thunderstorm that you not react to the thunder. If you make a big deal out of the thunder, the dog's fear will be reinforced. You need to remain calm to help your dog remain calm. It really makes sense if you think about it. If the dog sees you reacting he thinks something like, "the person is upset too thunder must be really bad". The best thing to do is to act like you did not hear the thunder. Don't say, "poor baby" or something like that to the dog.  Just let the dog see that the thunder has no effect on you. I do not mean to suggest that this is the magic bullet to correct fear of thunder. However, it will help. There are other techniques that you can use as well. I will be happy to discuss this with you in a training session.

I hope this has been of some help for you.

If you have issues with an anxious dog or a dog that has some sort of phobia, please contact me. I am happy to help you!

-Till Next Time

This is our former foster, Dr. Phil McBeagle after his welcome to the
pack bath. When Dr. Phil first joined our pack he had a phobia of
doorways. We were able to help him get over that fear. He is now
happy in his forever home with an entire pack of beagles.

William

William Moore

Professional Dog Trainer

Co-Owner

Moore Services for Your Money

William Moore Canine Training

fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com

mooreservicesforyourmoney@gmail.com

678-702-4791

mooresvs.com

A Virtually Dog Proof Kitchen Trash Can!

 Any of you that live with Beagles or other scent hounds realize the importance of dog-proofing the kitchen.  The Lovely and Beautiful Shane and I are currently doing a small remodeling project in our kitchen. As you may recall, from a previous blog post, we used to keep our trash can behind a latched door in the kitchen pantry. This was problematic because a simple latch is no match for a curious and motivated beagle. Beagles and scent hounds find the aroma of kitchen trash to be a highly motivating thing indeed!

The other problem with keeping the trash behind the latched door was that it was inconvenient. Anytime we wanted to throw something away, we had to deal with the latch and door.

We decided that we would rather have more open shelf and counter space than the enclosed pantry so, I removed a couple of walls and we are working on building a new counter and shelves. We are also installing some cool wall panels that look like stone work.  We are exited about this project but, we needed a trash containment solution that would deter motivated beagles and allow us convenient and easy access to the trash can.

Through much research, The Lovely, Beautiful, and Intelligent Shane found a really cool trash can manufactured by Simply Human. This trash can is a model that simply human refers to as "butterfly". It has a cantilever type of lid that is operated by a foot pedal. Because of the cantilever design, the lid closes very securely. The model that we purchased is slightly bottom heavy so, it stays upright pretty easily. We have had ours in the kitchen for about a month now and the dogs pretty much ignore it.

For a trash can, these units are a little pricey. However, we feel that this unit is well worth the price that we paid for it!

We bought ours at a clearance price from a local Bed, Bath and Beyond store. I suppose this would fall into the "beyond" department :) . I am not sure why Bed, Bath and Beyond stopped carrying this item. We really do like ours!

If you need help dog proofing your home, or if you need help training your canine buddy to be a polite little guy or girl, please contact me at any time.

Polite Dogs = Happy People.... Let me help you get happy today!!!

Till Next Time

-William

Coming in 2015 ..... New Book!

That is the Lovely and Awesome Shane on the cover with our cover boy,
Foster Boy Charles the Duke of Fayette County (We just call him Charlie).

I am happy to announce a new book on which I am working. The working title is Parent's Manual for Adopted Dogs (all rights reserved).

The book is intended as a reference manual for people who have adopted dogs in thier packs. In addition to that, it is also intended as a guide for those of you who are contemplating adding an adopted little guy or girl to your pack.

There are sections of the book regarding the most common behavioral and medical issues associated with adopted dogs. The book also leads you through getting your home ready for your adopted dog and introducing them to the pack.

The book details the monetary and time commitments that are necessary for the care of your adopted dog. The book also details what behaviors and training are necessary to help your adopted guy or girl become a polite dog. Because, as many of you understand, Polite Dogs = Happy People. This book is intended to guide you to the happiness that you can obtain from your relationship with your polite adopted dog!

My plans are to, at least initially, make this book available in electronic format for some of the popular e-reader devices (i.e. Nook, Kindle, etc.). Dependent upon the success of the electronic book, I will likely publish the book in a printed format.

I need some feedback from you, my readers. Please let me know which e-reader you currently use. Also let me know of any specific topics that you would like to see covered in the book. You can do this in the comments on this post or, if you would rather send me an e-mail or call me, that is fine as well. My contact information is at the bottom of this post.

Thank you all in advance for any help that you can provide on this project.

I expect to be ready to publish the book in electronic format around the beginning of 2015.

Till next time-

William

William Moore Canine Training
fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com
678-702-4791

Do dogs sense when their pack mates are sick?

Copper the Whopper Beagle spending time with his
buddy Sammy who is recovering from
surgery.

I wrote a blog post earlier addressing the questions of whether or not our dogs know when we are sick. I am convinced that they do sense when we are sick and that they worry about us.

I am equally convinced, through observation, that the same sort of thing occurs between canine pack mates as well. I was reminded of this last night:

The Lovely Shane and I are very greatful
to these folks for being so nice about meeting
us after 10:00pm last night to help us take
care of Foster Boy Sammy the Beagle!

Yesterday, I took our foster boy, Sammy the Beagle, to the Mobile Veterinarian to be neutered. He also got heart worm tested (he is negative!!), got a microchip, and all his shots.

When we got home, the Lovely Shane and I noticed that he was bleeding a little. We did not worry too much at first. However it got worse and about 10:00 pm, we contacted the veterinarian. We ended up going back to the vet last night. Sammy had developed a blood clot. The veterinarian took care of the problem for Sammy and sent us home with pain medication, anti-inflammatory medication and antibiotics.

I stayed up most of the night just to check on Sammy and make sure he was doing okay. The Lovely Shane and I were not the only ones concerned, however. I am convinced that Copper was also worried.

In retrospect, I actually think that Copper knew the severity of Sammy's problem before we did. When we bring a dog home from the veterinarian, all the other dogs are curious and have to sniff the guy who just survived the evil alien veterinarian (well at least sometimes it seems that is how they see the vet :) ). Copper's reaction was subtly different in this occasion. He sniffed Sammy as usual but he also followed him around everywhere. Copper would not let Sammy out of his sight. At the time I thought Copper had just missed his new little friend. I think it may have been more than that.

Copper is smart but... I would not
say he is all that complex. As illustrated
here he has simple motivation... food..
for the proper food Copper will do
practically anything :).

After we took Sammy back to the veterinarian late last night, we put an E-collar on him and put him in a crate. Copper stayed near the crate most of the night. Copper continued this for most of the day today. This is unusual for Copper. Occasionally during his watch today, Copper would sniff Sammy through the crate and sort of watch him closely for a little while then lie back down on a bed next to the crate.

I tell this story to make a point. I have often said and written that dogs are not really complex and they really are not. It helps with training if you understand that dogs are not complex. However, the lack of complexity does not mean that they are unaware of the feelings of their pack mates or their people. In fact quite the contrary is true. Dogs can be very sensitive and perceptive. For instance they sense thunderstorms before there is any indication of bad weather. If you spend a lot of time with your dogs, you will notice a difference in behavior just before a bad storm. In fact, Critten, a Lab/Pit Bull mix that lived with me when I was in Florida was very sensitive to the pressure changes during tropical storms and hurricanes.

Critten the weather dog :) .

Foster Boy Charlie the Beagle, Cody the
Little Beagle and Trigger the Dapple
Dachshund share a bed.

This really should not surprise us because these heightened senses are why dogs are so useful in hunting, search/rescue, etc. It is also why they can be trained to be useful to people with PTSD, diabetes, seizure disorders, etc.

I have been around dogs most of my life. While I should expect this sensitivity, it is still, frankly, incredible to watch! God gave these guys a great gift and I feel fortunate to have observed these wonderful creatures!

Keep you eye on your dog.... you might be surprised how much you can learn from these little guys and girls!

If you need help training your little canine buddy to be polite please contact me.  Remember.... Polite Dogs = Happy People! Let me help you to get happy today!

Till next time

-William

William Moore Canine Training
678-702-4791
fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com