Dominant Dog or Compassionate Person - Who are you?

I don't believe in the "pack theory", the "alpha theory" or the "dominance theory". I make it quite clear too that I don't. But I am not always very articulate when it comes to expressing why I just don't buy this theory. Of late there are more and more articles appearing that explain the flaws in this theory and this is one of the good article. It's written by Winkie Spires, a behaviourist from England and the Chairman of PDTE. This is an excerpt from her article in the PDTE Newsletter.

Firstly, what does "Dominant" mean? Controlling, commanding, prevailing over all others, very important, powerful, successful. For years, the word "dominant" has been used to describe dog behaviour. It seems to be used as a nice tidy blanket term to diagnose a large number of behaviours or actions that are deemed to be undesirable to the human. Once a "dominant" diagnosis has been made, it can, in some cases, lead to justification for harsh, inappropriate, cruel, ignorant, dangerous, painful and confusing training techniques being practiced on the dog. 

I really believe that dogs are wrongly diagnosed as dominant and that more needs to be done by professionals and owners to understand the true motivation for the unwanted behaviour. The only truly dominant behaviour seems to be practised by humans and unfortunately for animals and the planet no-one has come up with a dominance reduction plan for us!!

Who originally came up with this term "dominant"? It may have orginated with studies done on wolf packs which may not be hugely relevant when we are actually dealing with domesticated dogs who have undergone 10-15,000 years of selective breeding.  Although dogs share many characteristics with wolves we will only really learn about domesticated dogs if we observe and learn about domesticated dogs. 

The fact is that many dogs now live in social isolation from their own kind and their humans, often for long periods of time, which will obviously have a bearing on their behaviours. 

This theory of hierarchy was popularized by David Mech. It was based on observing wolves in captivity and then extrapolating that behavior to dogs in our homes. That would be like observing apes in a concentration camp and generalizing that humans in normal lives behave the same way. Now finally after years of pushing the alpha theory, David Mech himself questions his own theory. It takes a lot of evidence, not to mention immense humility to debunk ones own theory.

But there it is...that theory is out dated. We really need to get past it, put it behind us and start looking deeper. Look for the real issues and not just shroud everything under the "be the alpha" approach. Pretending to be a furless 2-legged overbearing dog is not going to fix all of our problems. In fact it's not going to fix any. Instead of trying to be a dominant dog, perhaps being a compassionate human being, might just start fixing a few things. Wny not give that approach a try?

Sacrosanct Meal Times

I often get the question of what kind of "training" once needs to do when feeding a puppy. Some trainers recommend taking away a puppies food to teach a puppy not to guard. I believe that taking a food away from a dog actually teaches the dog to guard food. My teacher, Turid Rugaas, International Behaviourist and President of PDTE puts it quite articulately:

What we see is that at about the age of 4 - 6 weeks, puppies learn to respect teach other. In fact, they learn this so well that it sticks with them for the rest of their lives if we do not disrupt it. That's when we will see the mother leaves food for the puppy to take and she will never claim it back. That means that by the time you get your new puppy, he has already learnt that when he's got food, nobody will take it from him. Now you know why they get so scared and frustrated when people start grabbing their food. Never, ever, take a puppy's food away - or an adult dog's for that matter - because that is how you teach them to be food aggressive. 

When Tigger came home she had severe resource guarding - food guarding being one of them. When she was eating if any of us so much as looked in her direction, she growled visciously. We let her keep her food and stayed as far away as possible. We watched how Nishi dealt with her. Nishi did the same. She figured out the distance that Tigger was comfortable with and stayed at that distance at all times. As the days passed, this distance gradually reduced. Tigger tolerated more and more proximity. Nishi gradually approached, always mindful of respecting Tigger's need for space. Today the food guarding has disappeared. She no more sees the need to guard her food from Nishi or from us.

Often I hear clients say this to me. Many complain that their dogs are fussy eaters and take forever to finish their meal. But the fussiest of eaters polish off their meal when in the the company of other dogs. Why is that? Because the presence of another dog often poses a threat to the food. I have seen one thing common among all shelter dogs - they polish off their meal in a jiffy. No fussy dog whatsoever. So, what's going on here? The dog is stressed out and gobbles up the meal in an attempt to consume what she perceives to be her share.

The insecurity around food is the worst form of insecurity, is it not? I often wonder how it must feel for one to fear loss of food. Sounds terrible. And to inflict fear of such nature on another sounds barbaric, to say the least. I once read an article that rightly posed this question "Is it really too much for a dog to ask for some personal space and time each day to eat his meal in peace, away from other dogs, away from children, away from guests - in his own private corner?". 

So, I ask you this. Why not make that a little ritual. One little corner and a tiny slice of time dedicated for our companion's meal. I am sure it's not impossible to dedicate a spot on the balcony or kitchen or even an unused bathroom where a dog can go in, enjoy his meal and not have people or dogs walking around him and for us to guarantee that he will NOT be disturbed as long as he is eating. Of course, if my dogs chose to walk out, without finishing their meal, then I clear the food up, so that there are no literal bones of contention lying around. But as long as they are chowing down, I consider their meal time as sacrosanct as mine. I don't like to be disturbed and I don't like my plate to be taken away from me while I am eating. I am sure they don't like it. And I see no wisdom in doing it. Watching Nishi with Tigger told me that dogs don't believe in such rude behaviour either. So...how is meal time going to be?

Learning under duress

I distinctly remember that day. I was in 2nd grade. The new frock that had been sitting in the closet, that I had coveted for months had been pulled out and I was allowed to wear it to school to celebrate my birthday. I sat in class, shaking in my new frock, terrified out of my wits and asked my friend, "What do you think? Will she take it easy on me today because it's my birthday?". My teacher was known to be one of the toughest. She used metal rulers and hit us on our knuckles till they split open. "What if I threatened her that I would complain to the principal if she hits me on my birthday? Will she leave me alone?", I asked my friend. My friend looked at me like I had lost my mind. "Nooooo! Don't do that. She will get angry and hit you harder!", she said. Despite my friend's wisdom, when my teacher approached me, I snapped and screamed "If you hit me on my birthday I will complain. My father loves me and he will hit you back!". Oh boy....did I regret that!

But here is the thing. Today I deal with many many dogs. Dogs just as scared as I was that day. Dogs who have tried to tell us, in every way possible, that they are terrified. And dogs who eventually snap. They don't have anyone to complain to. So they defend themselves. Instead of recognizing the hopeless corner we push them into, we label them as aggressive or dominant and push them further and further. One fine day they give up, go into a shell. They become completely apathetic and then we claim to have "cured" the aggression. To my mind there really cannot be a solution unless one gets to the bottom of the problem and address that, instead of merely dealing with the symptoms. At the basis of canine aggression is fear. To fix aggression, one needs to understand fear and stress - there are no two ways about that!

To understand fear and stress, we need to understand where it comes from - the brain. Somewhere, a long time ago, in biology class, I learnt of two parts of the nervous systems - Voluntary and Involuntary. The Involuntary nervous system was something that had a mind of it's own and there was little I could do to control what that system did. This involuntary part of the brain has two modes of functioning - an emergency  mode that's turned on during times of stress and a regular mode. (For those who like technical terms, it's the Sympathetic nervous system and Parasympathetic nervous system respectively) When one mode is on, the other mode is off. And considering all of this is part of the involuntary nervous system, there is not much point in telling a dog "NO! Bad Boy! Sympathetic system off!". No amount of training, no amount of dog whispering, no amount of leadership is going to teach a dog to turn off his Stress Response or the emergency mode. The only way is for the Stressor itself to go away. But with us, hovering there, trying to be dominant leaders, we ourselves become the stressors, constantly keeping our dog in emergency mode. What does this do to our dogs?

The Parasympathetic system or the regular mode of the body focuses on long term projects of the body - digestion, storage of nutrients, growth, immunity, learning, memory etc...When a dog is stressed all of this is turned off. The emergency mode kicks in. This system's focus is survival. So it puts all senses on high alert and gets the muscles pumped up and primed for a mad dash. That means that all nutrients in the body, that were being stored for learning and growth are now being poured out for the mad dash. The heart is beating hard and fast to get all of this to the muscles. The muscles are sucking up oxygen which was meant for the brain. The senses are focusing on the entries, exits, defense tools etc...and don't really care about learning.

At this point, we have some trainers who come in and insist on training the dog. There is talk of "obedience training". There is talk of leadership. There is talk about "manners classes". I remember once when I was being punished badly for botching up history classes. Between sobs I was trying to learn the dates of the damned battle of Panipat and who fought who. Looking through my tears I could see the letters and numbers floating around and doing an obscene dance in front of me that made no sense at all. Nothing made sense. All I could think of was "please don't beat me any more with that metal ruler". I tried so hard to get those sentences to make sense, but the numbers and letters just sniggered and continued their insane dance. "What are the dates Sindhoor?". I heard the question but the question did not make sense. I repeated the question in my head a few times. I looked at the dance. Nothing made sense. I sobbed and blurted out "Please don't beat me!" and I bolted across the room. Continuing to recount this story is just going to be hard to read. When trainers recommend manners classes for such dogs I relive that day. I look at the dogs eyes and I see the same sentiment in the dogs eyes. The feeling of helplessness, fear and complete inability to comprehend anything. Trainers are not always tuned into their dogs. But good pet parents are. I sincerely hope that they look into the eyes of their dogs and see what the trainers are asking these poor dogs to do and rescue their dogs from this impossible misson.

Off late, I have been dealing with many dogs who are under severe chronic stress and are being subjected to additional stress in the attempt to train them. My mind is filled with all of this, to a point where, a few nights ago I had a night mare - I heard my little sister crying. She was being punished for not learning well. She was sobbing. I often look at my dog and my sister similarly. So in my dream, they both were the same. It was a little girl of about 5 or so, sometimes representing my sister, sometimes representing my dog and sometimes representing the 5yr old me, terrified, being yelled at, sobbing and trying to learn. I ran out, called out to this little girl. When she came to me, I hugged her, wiped off her tears. Told her that she was OK and there was nothing to be afraid of. I asked her to take a break and that she could learn later. I told her I would come play with her in a bit. I went looking for the person who had hurt her and ensured that there would be no more punishments. If we think about it, dealing with our dogs should not be very different. The concepts are the same - ensure it does not happen again, a reassurance, a break from learning and some help to feel better again. So for a dog, this is what we would do:

1. Remove the stressors. Stop the scolding. Stop the yelling. Stop being dominant. Just be a loving pet parent
2. Provide reassurance to the little one that there will be no more of that. For a dog being left alone, calm reassuring voice and stop changing scenes on a dog. If a dog is guarding resources due to fear of lack of resources - just flood the dog with resources so that the dog is confident that there is no reason for fear
3. Give the little one time to recover and cope. For chronic stress, like in the case of dogs, nutrition and sleep are critical in this. Consistency in the home a dog is absolutely critical. So don't move the dog around from foster home to foster home. Stay. Let the dog recover. 
4. Build confidence in the little one that she can indeed cope and learn. In the case of a stressed dog, work with a good behaviourist on confidence building measures. When faced with potential stressors, reassured the dog that the dog has the choice to walk away and avoid the stressors, thus helping gain more confidence.

During the worst of her days, Nishi sought comfort in her toys. 
She took them to bed with her. 
Back then, I could not take pictures of all of her. It was too horrifying. 
So I took pictures of the best part of her - her coping spirit!

Love, patience and nurture are critical in helping a stressed dog. Leadership, obedience and manners are futile, counter productive and almost cruel on a stressed dog. I can relate to this and for those of us who were brought up in a culture of punishment, we don't need to understand the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems to know how all of this works. We just know what works and what does not. And if the voice inside us is not something we want to rely on, then understand the functioning of the brain. Either way, the answer is the same - remove stressors, reassurance, recovery & confidence building. 

After Adoption - A guide to help pet-parents deal with their newly adopted dog

Adoption is stressful.
This was Tigger before she came to us.
Notice the fear and anxiety in her eyes
Photo by Ramya Reddy

Congratulations! You have a new family member. Adopting a dog is a great decision. However, your new dog has most likely been in a very high stress environment. The move to your home is also stressful for your dog. Adrenaline is coursing through his/her body and can pose some challenges. But don’t worry. You and your dog will learn to cope. There are several guides on what to buy and how to puppy proof your house etc….This guide is not going to cover those issues. This guide is aimed solely at the emotional aspect of the adoption and how to help your new dog deal with the emotional roller-coaster ride that he has been put on, by being moved from one place to another.

First things first:

1. Understand what stress hormones can do to your dog
2. Give your dog space and time to settle down in this new home

Once your dog has calmed down, the effects of stress hormones should automatically come down and you will be well on your way to a happy canine family.

What can stress hormones do to your dog?
Stress hormones damage brain cells. This in turn reduces your dogs ability to be social with dogs & humans. Depending on your dogs memory, the asocial behavior might be directed towards dogs or humans or both. He is not being indifferent to you or your existing dogs. He just does not know how to cope at the moment. He needs time.

Adrenaline, interferes with digestion. Excess gastric juices are secreted resulting in a bad stomach, diarrhea, constipation and/or vomiting. This is not hard to imagine. In my case, I experience all of the above when I am nervous. Before an exam, I used to have a lot of acidity, I could be nauseous or not manage to get out of the toilet at all. Same with your new doggy. So bear with him. His stomach will settle down as he calms down.

Stress hormones increased sexual hormones too. Increase sexual hormones result in irritation or even anger. This could lead to growling, barking, fights etc…We all know that when we are irritable or angry, it’s best that we are left alone. Same with our dogs. Dogs with high level of sexual hormones will also mount.  This goes for spayed or neutered dogs as well as female dogs too. All dogs have some amount of hormones of opposite genders and even sterilized dogs will still have some residual hormones that are increased with stress. They are not trying to dominate anyone or anything. Your dog is merely stressed. So yelling at your dog in an attempt to dominate him will only worsen the situation by stressing him further.

High stress increases the Anti-Diuretic Hormone – the hormone that controls the water balance in our body. In humans we often see the effect of this manifest in excessive perspiration. In dogs, due to decreased perspiration, we see an alternate behavior – urination. This might result in urination inside the house, in what they consider safe spots etc…The dog is not marking territories. The dog is just dealing with increased ADH by peeing, just like you or I might have started sweating.

Stress hormones increase Neuro-peptides, which in turn weaken the immune system. When I was in college, I always experienced this. When I got too stressed due to exams, I would end up having a severe throat infection. Weak immune systems can cause infections and allergies in a dog. Pumping a dog with medication is not going to help much. What the dog really needs is rest and decrease in stress.

Another effect of stress is low blood sugar. Low blood sugar inhibits learning. The dog experiences a lack of concentration and a general inability to learn. Hence trying to teach a dog anything at this point is not only going to be futile but also frustrating for us and further stressful for the dog.  There will be lot of time for learning and training in the future. For now, it’s time to take it easy and just bond. 

In addition to all of the above a dog could exhibit hyper nervousness, hyper sensitivity to sound or touch, excessive barking and generally be hyper alert.

Now, that’s a long laundry list. The list is not here to scare new pet parents, but to let you know that these are normal. These don’t mean that your dog is sick or a bad dog. It simply means your dog is stressed and dealing with basic stress will address most, if not all problems.

What should you do?
Nothing! Just give your dog lots of space and time. Meet his basic needs – plenty of water and food. He is in a recovery phase and needs that nutrition.

He also needs lots of rest. Give him many cozy spots to sleep in, so that he has choices. Dogs are social sleepers. They can’t sleep alone and are in high alert mode if left alone. So ensure there is someone around, especially at night to give him the comfort and confidence to fall asleep. Our good old panacea of “curd rice” works wonders on dogs as well. Every noticed how hard it is to stay awake at work after a heavy South Indian meal. That’s the carb-crash. Carbs have similar effect on dogs. Combine that with the probiotic effects of curds and you have the perfect recovery-food for your pooch!

And don’t forget to provide plenty of reassurance. Talk to him in a calm voice from a distance. Tell him what a wonderful boy he is & that he is your miracle boy (or girl). The soothing calming tone will work wonders.
SPACE: DO NOT APPROACH HIM. LET HIM APPROACH YOU

Tuffy was one of the hardest cases we dealt with.
Her stress levels were so high that she refused to come inside the house.
She was most comfortable outside, in the garden.
All we did was to to keep our distance,
let her sleep and be there for her when she approached us
Photo by Ramya Reddy

What should you NOT do?
Don’t start training commands. Stress hormones reduce a dog's ability to learn. So let him heal first. As I mentioned earlier, there is enough time to train in the future

Contrary to popular belief, long walks & games like fetch or tug actually increase a dogs pulse, adding to stress. What your dog needs is rest and plenty of it. Let him sleep. Keep walks short.

Interaction with other dogs and new people can also be very stressful for dogs. While you might be dying to invite friends home to show your new dog, hold off for a bit. Let your dog first get comfortable with you. Don’t be in a big hurry to visit the vet either. If you have seen a dog at a vet, waiting with several other highly stressed dogs, you will understand how that can do no good to an already troubled dog. Unless he is severely sick, hold off on the vet visit or find a vet who does home visits. Yep, those do exist in Bangalore

Children perhaps like to be cuddled. But dogs are not children and they hate it! They tolerate it, but they don’t like it. Hugging or cuddling is the last thing your dog needs. You want to comfort your dog? Leave him alone. He will approach you when he is ready. Give him his space.

And last but not the least: DON’T APPROACH YOUR DOG. LET YORU DOG APPROACH YOU!

Tigger today - A naughty, impish little puppy
who is so happy at all times that
her constantly wagging tail is a mere blur in all pictures

(Another Turid Rugaas Lesson)

Bringing home a second dog

Bringing a new dog home is always exciting. But knowing the right way to do it and knowing what to expect makes the move easier on everyone. Bringing in a second dog, poses some unique challenges, but nothing that cannot be dealt with, when handled with thought and care. When bringing in the second dog, the first dog should play a critical role in all decisions. Bringing in a second dog is very unnatural for dog and the disruption in the dogs life needs to be carefully addressed.

When considering what dog to bring home, let age and gender of your first dog play a role. Consider adoption only after your first dog is 2.5 yrs or above. Younger dogs will find it harder to cope with the change in environment. Try to ensure that your second dog is at least 2 years younger than your first dog. This will help your older dog to take on a parental role in the new household. Getting dogs that are closer in age might create a sibling relationship and we all know how turbulent that can be, particularly at a younger age. I remember being pulled up by my headmistress because my sister and I were fighting so bad and she was playing tarzan with my pig tails and I kicked her to get her out my my hair...literally! Imagine your dogs doing the equivalent and you know what you have on your hands!

Gender should also be a consideration. Opposite genders do find it easier to get along. Specifically, of you have a female dog, it’s best to get a male. If you must get another female, the age dynamic explained earlier becomes even more important. Female dogs, contrary to popular belief, have a higher guarding tendency. Given that, bringing home another female close in age or older can trigger this guarding tendency and it might lead to fatal fights that we certainly don’t want to deal with. There are exceptions to these, but it helps to keep these criteria in mind, if you had the luxury to chose.

Next comes the process of introducing the dogs. Here, the most important thing to do is to TAKE IT EASY. Don’t rush the decision or the process. Let your existing dog and the potential new dog meet on neutral ground. Take them for walks, maintaining a distance between them. They don’t have to meet and play on the first visit. Schedule more than 1 visit and gradually decrease the distance between them.

When we went to get Tiggy, we visited the PPF shelter. We used the vast space outside and let the dogs have a choice there. The space was so vast that they kept their distance and barely acknowledged each other. But contrary to appearances, dogs are very cognizant of each others presence and will work out how to meet. Give them the time and space and let them do it at their pace.

Nishi & Tigger - best of friends

Once the dogs are able to meet and have shown that they get along, that’s the point at which you can decide to take home the second dog. If we brought home a second dog, against the will of the first one, then we have only ourselves to blame if the first dogs starts acting out and it will take a lot of effort to set things right. Sometimes things may never settle down.

Let’s assume that you have found the perfect friend for your dog and have decided to bring the second dog home. Take your first dog out of the home and bring them into the house together. Neither should be welcomed by the other in the house. This is critical in starting to get the first dog to understand that your home is now a shared space.

Once the dogs are home, it is likely that one or both dogs start resource guarding. Anything can be a resource – food, human contact, toy, beds etc…In situations like this, don’t let the dogs get stressed over this. This can lead to bad blood. Remove the dogs from the situation all together. If food is contentious, feed them in different rooms. If people are contentious, two people pet both dogs simultaneously or don’t pet either dog when the other one is around. If the bed is contentious, provide several other options, so that the dogs can chose what they like best. Take away the contentious bed. Basically, change the situation. Don’t feel helpless. Don't put your hands up in the air saying you are helpless and expecting the dogs to change behaviour. Instead, take charge and change the situation. You are the sentient human being there. Over time, they will learn to cope. Dogs are very good that way.

Another source of stress can be sexual hormones. This poses problems in several different ways. We, in India have several street dogs that are in and out of heat. This could cause tension at home. Male dogs get very stressed in situations like that. But having two male dogs can add to the stress. I don't need to explain the in-house stress of having 1 male and 1 female dog either. Over all, the situation is far more manageable and stress free of the dogs are sterilized.

One little tip from my own experience. Nishi was helped immensely by our fostering. We fostered pups, who came home, healed and left. This not only taught Nishi how to be a lovely caring nanny, but also taught her not to feel insecure when a new pup comes home. However, try this with caution. Nishi might have been unique and it might not always work for everyone.

Now, not that there are no exceptions to all of these. Sometimes dogs of the same gender may get along famously. My Tigger and Nishi do. Sometimes, a completely strange dog brought home might just settle in. But if you have a choice and are looking for the right kind of dog to bring into your home, consider the above. It makes it a lot easier on the existing dog & the new dog & on the rest of your family.

Once the new dog comes it, it will take time for the dog to settle down. So give your dog that time. Don't start training or long walks. Allow for loads and loads of sleep. And if the dog comes from a stressful past, it WILL take 9 - 10 months for the dog to recover fully and the brain to grow out again. I will soon have another post on adoption and what to expect. But for now, if you are considering a second dog or know anyone else who is considering one, do pass on this information. I hope the new member is accepted well and settles down well. My favorite quote on this topic is “Dogs are like chocolate. It’s impossible to stop at 1”.

(Yet another valuable Turid Rugaas lesson)