My client has two dogs, an elderly, though spry, small, mixed breed dog and a middle-aged, easy-going Labrador Retriever. Her stepson came home from college, bringing his 14 month old Shepherd mix with him. According to my client, she became concerned the second she saw them in the driveway! Why? Because her stepson had the dog riding loose in his car, no harness or leash in sight as he let the dog jump out and make a beeline through her rosebushes. When she opened the front door to ask if he needed a leash, the dog bolted past her, making a mad dash toward her two dogs, toppling the little dog and t-boning her Labrador! When she yelled at the young dog, he continued to growl somewhat playfully and stand over her little dog. Her stepson acted like nothing was wrong and proceeded to carry his bags in the house, ignoring the chaos his dog was causing the resident dogs. Apparently it was downhill from there with his dog running across furniture, swiping food and dishtowels from the kitchen counter, and busting through a screen door to get out into the backyard. This all happened, according to my client, in less than an hour's time. When she spoke to her stepson about the dog's behavior, he told her that he didn't believe in restricting the dog, instead taking a "dogs will be dogs" approach to raising his new companion. She told me she secretly wondered if his roommates were okay with this approach. At that point, she emailed me and we set up a time for me to come over and meet with them all before this situation got completely out of hand. I told her that while I was more than willing to be the "voice of reason," so to speak, I would need her stepson to listen with an open mind. Everything I planned to tell him about raising an adolescent dog was science-based, factual, and proven to work. It most certainly was not, however, a "dogs will be dogs" approach.
First off, I explained why he would need to put his dog on a collar and leash, or harness and leash. Suburbia is no place for an off leash dog with zero recall; the dog was going to get hit by a car before the summer's end at the rate he was going. Luckily, I'd brought a martingale collar and six-foot leash with me, so we started there. I reminded this young owner that while wild canids navigate the world without leashes and collars, they also are doing so at risk of getting hit by cars too. Next, we moved on to house etiquette. Dogs should be taught boundaries, not because we are squelching their dog-ness, but precisely the opposite: We are teaching them to be dogs who know the rules. Dog society is based on rules, boundaries, and enforcement. That's true whether you are talking about wild dogs, wolves, coyotes, or house dogs. Canid society is structured and there are consequences for those who step out of line repeatedly. In the case of house dogs, it is our job as their humans to teach them to stay off of counters where they could hurt themselves. If furniture is off limits, they need to be taught where they CAN be, even if that means tethering them in places, using x-pens, or having a crate. Dogs should be encouraged to be polite; sitting for attention and petting, sitting and waiting to be fed, etc. Even with wolves, adolescent animals who are too boisterous or overly-enthusiastic are quickly corrected by their elders. And when it comes to dog-dog interactions, boundaries are no exception. While older dogs typically will correct an adolescent dog who oversteps, in the case of my client's dogs, this was difficult. Her older dog was too small (he was literally a seventh the size of her stepson's dog!) and while the Labrador could hold his own from a size standpoint, his attempts to correct the younger dog were being ignored and his frustration was leading him to spend more and more time hiding in his crate in the owner's bedroom. This meant that it was up to the humans to enforce the rules: No running in the house; no running over the other dogs; no stealing the other dogs' food; no rough play. I told her stepson he can put the dog on a long line and take him to the park for his runaround time. He can take him to the dog park to play with other dogs whose play style matches his, but I did warn him to expect his dog to get corrected by other dogs there as well. At meal times, his dog needed to be fed separately from the other two dogs and not be allowed out of that separate area until the other dogs finished eating and their bowls were picked up. To control his enthusiasm a bit in the house, he could keep a leash on his dog, tethering the dog to him so the dog learned calm, following behaviors, rather than responding to everything with unbridled enthusiasm.
Her stepson indicated that he really didn't want to "yuck his dog's yum." That cracked me up! I told him he was actually doing his dog a great disservice by NOT establishing rules and structure for accepted behavior. Ultimately him not doing so would get he and the dog ostracized; dog lovers love dogs, but they don't love dogs who are over-the-top and ill-mannered. Structure and boundaries are not mean, again, look at how dogs interact with each other. There is give and take. If one dog oversteps, say pinching another dog during play or stepping on them when they are asleep, there are repercussions. That isn't aggression; that's a reminder about boundaries and consequences. Consequences teach a dog what's acceptable and what isn't. And if a dog won't accept those consequences being dished out by another dog, or by the humans for that matter, then that's a real problem. With my client's stepson's dog, we were dealing with a very active, untrained, adolescent. Adolescence in dogs is characterized by boundary testing and setbacks as it is, so adding in that this dog had received no training before coming home for the summer, was just complicating matters.
I set up some ground rules for this family that everyone agreed on in principle. This young dog would be tethered to his owner when he wasn't in the owner's bedroom. He would be walked twice a day, on leash, and given an opportunity to run around outdoors on a long line. He would be taken to the dog park every day to run and play with other young dogs. The owner would spend five minutes, three times each day, working on training with his dog. I taught the dog a handful of tricks which the dog seemed to really enjoy, so that gave me hope that the owner would follow through. Meals would be in the owner's room or in the laundry room, and after the other dogs had been fed first. All interactions between the dogs, whether indoors or in the yard, would be completely supervised. If the older dogs corrected the younger dog and the younger dog ignored the corrections, then the humans would step in and remove the younger dog for a time out. Clear consequences like that would help the older dogs to see that they were being supported in their attempts to teach this young dog some manners.
All of this happened just over a month ago. I did my follow up this week and huge progress has been made. The situation isn't perfect, but everyone is feeling relieved that much of the boundary enforcement and on-leash work is helping to keep the peace. There was one setback at the dog park: The owner was quite upset when his dog was "beat up by another dog he was just trying to play with." When I had him describe the encounter, it was quite clear to me that, once again, his dog wasn't heeding another dog's warnings and this time there was a more serious consequence. That wasn't the fault of the other owner or his dog and that was a hard pill for this young dog owner to swallow. A learning opportunity for them both, right?
As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.
Play time! This was Henley playing with Westley while Ozzie looks on. Ozzie has never liked rough and growly play, but Henley always has. Westley was patient with this...to a point. If Henley overstepped, Westley corrected, and Henley respected that. That's how good play works.
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