Having a busy Dog Daycare and Home Dog Boarding service and having close interaction with so many dog breeds and families of dogs, that it takes being a perpetual student and lifelong learner to be able to manage well the behavior of all dogs when they are together here.
I cannot thank God and one Dog Parent enough for gifting me with the book, 'The Dog Listener' (click image above to view contents)
as one weekend, it basically 'saved my bacon' when boarding one particular dog who once his family left, began crouching low, growling, showing teeth and backing into a corner.
For the first time ever, I felt intimidated and a bit fearful of this dog; not only for my sake but the other dogs in residence. I realized my attitude and behavior towards this dog HAD TO CHANGE if I was to create a safe and healthy environment for everyone in it that weekend.
I immediately picked up this book an turned to Chapter 8: Mean and Moody: Dealing With Nervous Agression.
I devoured every word and immediately set about putting it all into practice.
I kid you not: the response from that dog was immediate! He understood the dog language, the signals I was 'speaking' through my actions:
I quote from the book, page 85:
"Nervous aggression, for all its myriad manifestations, can be conquered by
making one fundamental change:
REMOVING FROM THE DOG ITS STATUS OF LEADER OF ITS PACK
Now we know that when a family gets a new dog, no one goes about to establish that the new dog will be the 'pack leader', however "dogs know instinctively that there must be a leader for the pack to survive and many owners inadvertently give the dog this position by signals they give out. A dog given this role with no experience or guidance, operates in a world where they have no understanding. The aggressive behaviors/attitude is the dog's way of repelling intruders they believe might pose a threat to it's pack"
While I saw a positive immediate response from this dog, it required CONSTANT & CONSISTENT reinforcing of all the signals for the entire weekend. Truly, this was exhausting, as I was also caring for 3 other dogs at the same time. Exhausting, yes, Rewarding: YES! Was I paid for it: NO. But that's part of what I do when it is required.
During the weekend, I was texting with the family as this was the first time they had boarded their dogs. I asked them if they would like to observe for themselves a new positive behavior from their 2 dogs. They said
YES.
When they arrived, I had them complete a particular behavior in front of their dogs. By being consistent in this, within 5 minutes they observed for themselves the minimization and absence of a typical behavior they would see whenever they would arrive home. I appreciated seeing the astonished look on their faces!
So, having said all this, this is what I say about Jan Fennell's book, The Dog Listener:
In my opinion, Every dog owner NEEDS this book.
We all need to have it, read every word and apply it immediately, consistently and firmly. Dogs are excellent communicators. But they speak "DOG".
We are humans and we speak Human Language. If we truly desire to live in a loving, respectful relationship with them and they with us, we must take the responsibility to learn THEIR language, dictated to them in their DNA over centuries living in the wild.
There's my challenge; are you up to the challenge?
PS - photo above is NOT the dog I had the issue with :)
This is 'Nash', German ShortHaired Pointer
11 mos
