Dog behaviour and training - Myths Busted!

I thought it would be good to have a thread just busting the general myths that still seem to hang about to do with dogs - please feel free to add any you can think of as that would be very helpful!

1) Dogs can be dominant (or 'alpha' or 'pack leader') of / over their owners

Wrong! Dogs are not dominant over their owners; they're not wolves and even if they did use dominance, a dog can tell the difference between another dog and a human! Even if the term dominance did have a place in the dog world, it's been so hyped up and everything is dominance-related these days that it's best just to forget about it...so many things are attributed to a dog being dominant, here are some classic examples:

"Oh my dog pulls on lead because she's dominant and trying to decide where we're going" - no, your dog pulls on lead because s/he's excited and dogs walk faster than we do!

"Oh, my dog jumps up at me when I get home from work so she thinks she's the alpha" - no, she jumps up because she's excited to see you and because you haven't trained her how to say hello politely!

"Oh, my dog thinks it's the pack leader because he growls when he's got something and I try snatch it from his mouth" - no, he growls because that's *rude*! I'd growl if you tried to yank something from my mouth! Your dog's resource guarding, you need to counter condition him to feeling scared & like you're gonna take everything from him, and work on teaching him a good "drop it".

"Oh my dogs so dominant he humps all the other dogs!" - no, he humps maybe because of his age or because he's not neutered, or because humping is a form of play for dogs and relieves stress!

Articles to read about dominance:

(This first article also has great links to other places)
http://canineconfidence.com/2011/12/02/dealing-with-dominance/
http://drsophiayin.com/philosophy/dominance/?/dominance.php
http://www.nonlineardogs.com/
http://www.aspcabehavior.org/articles/157/Is-Your-Dog-Dominant.aspx


2) Dogs need to be punished when they are bad

Nope! Dogs need to be taught how you want them to behave, otherwise of course they will do some things you don't like. You can teach your dog to pee and poop outside, everyone knows that. You can teach your dog to ignore food that's on counters or even that's dropped on the floor, you can teach your dog not to shred the post that comes through the letterbox or his new bed...you don't need to punish a dog, it just ruins the relationship you have with them. For a sensitive dog even saying "no" is enough to upset them and make them think you are scary and unpredictable; I know one owner who shouted at her newly adopted dog (just the usual "No! Bad girl!") and it took her months to get the dog to even look her in the eye after that. With PR training it's all about teaching your dog what you want them to do.

If they misbehave use a positive interrupter (see video link below) to stop the behaviour and then distract them after that or, if the dog's getting in the bin, simply close the kitchen door or move where the bin is kept. If your dog's over-excited and jumping up on you, face the wall and ignore him or leave the room. To ignore a dog is the worst punishment there is, without actually punishing him. You only need ignore him for 10 seconds. If your dog is driving you mad and he is crate trained, put him in his crate for a while so that you can both chill out. This isn't a punishment, this is just you needing a break and is very much allowed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBvPaqMZyo8


3) Putting a dog in a crate is evil and a form of abuse

Ha, so wrong! Crate training a dog / puppy, as long as it is done properly, is often the best thing you could do for the dog. I'm gonna do a crate training sticky, but here's a quick list why: the dog has a "den" where they feel safe, it makes travelling easier as the dog always has his familiar space with him, it deters puppies from going to the toilet in there and can be a great aid for house training, it can be incredibly useful to help a dog recover from separation anxiety, if the dog needs to stay over at the vets' in a crate s/he will not be as freaked out.

Of course there are rules you should follow, such as you shouldn't leave the dog in there for a long amount of time. This varies on the individual dog and his / her age. Obviously puppies shouldn't be left in there for a long time at all as they can't hold their bladder. Kasper is left in his crate for up to 5 hours at a time, a day. You should also never just shove a dog in a crate, it can take weeks even months to work up to leaving a dog happily in a crate, and it should be done. A dog should always have been walked (a good walk that really tires them) and toileted before being left in a crate, and many appreciate a chew thing left in with them, such as a Kong. Kasper is not one of these though


4) Choke chains / collars or prong collars or electro-shock collars are a good anti-pulling aid

No, they are a torture device!! Haha, seriously though, how would you like it if every time you walked you were spiked, electricuted or throttled?! In the vast majority of cases they don't work; the dog continues pulling but hurts his neck and can cause permanent damage, which the owner isn't even aware of. A dog is hardwired so that when something pulls against them, they instinctively pull back. Even if it hurts; in fact many dogs panic that it hurts and pull more!

In some cases the dog will become fearful, aggressive, and wow you've just caused way more issues than you started with! Sometimes it will seem to have worked, in that the dog will stop pulling (this is rare), but often that is because the dog has gone into "shutdown". A lot of people see this as submission, 'yay the dog is behaving and doing what I want'...no, this is a dog that has given up. It has learnt nothing it does is right and just wants to be invisible. Verbal punishment (even just saying 'no') can also result in shutdown, especially in sensitive dogs - see myth 2).

Instead of trying to force you're dog not to pull on lead by hurting him, teach him how you want him to walk and reward him for it. There's the 'tree' method, where every time the dog pulls you freeze and don't walk until the lead slackens. This can make you look stupid, and it can take 30 minutes to get even to the end of the street, but it's worth it for the end result There's the turn method, where every time the dog pulls you turn around. Then, if both those fail (and you have to try for weeks / months before you can deemed them failed; this isn't something you can fix in a few days) you need to put a bit more effort in. See Kikopup's vid below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFgtqgiAKoQ

We tried the tree method with Kasper but he didn't find it rewarding enough to be allowed to walk for not pulling - he was too excited about the smells and surroundings, so he pulled regardless and just took the stops when they happened! After an off-lead walk he walks pretty nicely until he sees a cat We could train him to walk nicely with the above method, rewarding him every time the lead is slack, but to be honest we don't mind his pulling that much and can't be bothered (lazy lazy!) so for now we put up with it!


5) If a puppy / dog has an accident in the house, s/he needs shouting at or their face rubbing in it. That's how you housetrain a dog

C'mon! Really?! And how would you like that?? Every time you shout at a dog for making a mess, you're teaching the dog that it's the action itself that makes you angry...not where the dog does it! The dog will think you don't like him peeing, so he will go hide somewhere out of sight to do it. You might end up with a dog that refuses to go toilet anywhere, which can lead to lots of infections and health problems.

If a dog has an accident in the house...well, if it's a puppy that's bad management on the owners' part. Puppies can't control their bladders. They can't last long without needing the toilet, you need to manage that. Tether the puppy to you (by a lead or long line) so puppy can't sneak off to toilet. Take puppy out every half hour if need be, and have a puppy party when he goes outside (lots of verbal praise and treats), gradually increase a "go toilet" command. Every time puppy goes outside he needs treats and LOTS of praise. Puppies need out as soon as they wake up and after they've eaten or drunk. Use the penny method below to gauge when he is housetrained.

If an older dog has an accident it's probably because you didn't listen to him when he said he needed out, you left him alone too long, he has separation anxiety (this can result in peeing and pooping through fear), or he may have a health issue. Or he's simply not house trained as well as you thought! Many dogs regardless of age can need to go back to housetraining basics, for no apparent reason. Just treat them as if they were a puppy until they have re-learned where you want them to go.

With house training...it can take a long time For puppies, the rough guide is for every month of the puppy's age, he can hold his bladder for that number of hours. So a 4 month old puppy can wait to toilet for 4 hours. I really don't believe that though, and would never want to leave Kasper without toiletting for longer than 5 hours...

The penny method: If you're housetraining a dog, for every time your dog goes outside, put a penny in a jar. For every time he has an accident indoors, take 3 pennies out. When you have a hundred pennies, you can consider the dog housetrained. I stole that from a friend, and I think it works great

6) You can never tire out a [insert energetic breed here] Border Collie, GSD, Vizla, Springer Spaniel etc...

Rubbish! You can tire out any dog, no matter how energetic they are, if you're willing to put some effort in Kasper is a Border Collie x Springer Spaniel, so yeah...two very hyper breeds! He is a crazy kipper, but (most days!) he is willing to sleep and rest in the house, as long as we stimulate him enough. He gets two hour-long off-lead walks a day. Here he gets to crazy, let out pent-up energy and chase things! After we get back, he gets fed a meal in a puzzle feeder...a puzzle feeder is something you put kibble into, and the dog has to work out how to get it out!

All dogs should have the opportunity to try out a puzzle feeder or two...not only is it fun for them but it's hilarious watching them figure it out too! We have seven puzzle feeders now, of varying difficulty, and they are AWESOME at tiring Kasper out mentally Here's a video of Lenny our rabbit and Kasper having a go at the same type of puzzle feeder, skip towards the end of the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBSJC262vik

Throughout the day he gets several play sessions (usually tug of war, sometimes fetch) which last around 10 minutes. We have the "all done" command to show we are finished and then he usually rests a while. Then it's time for either more play or some training; if he's very hyped I'll do more vigorous training, sending him upstairs, making him jump onto the couch, weaving through my legs etc. After that he usually settles to chew a toy or his antler. Sometimes we give him something edible to chew on too.

Our house is littered with plenty of dog toys to hold Kasper's interest and that he can hold in his mouth whilst playing, and we usually have bits of toilet roll tubes, newspapers, leaflets and various shredded toys scattered all over the house too...Kasper loves to rip things into little pieces, so giving him cardboard or paper when he's behaving is a great reward for him - it just means we have to pick bits of the floor at least three times a day!!

Then it's out for another big walk, and when we get back tea in a different puzzle feeder. He's *usually* happy to chill for the rest of the evening, but sometimes we will have to add another tiring play session into the mix. If we've left him throughout the day for the full five hours, he tends to be more energetic although that's not always the case...he likes to keep us on our toes

Here's a video I made about having an extremely high energy dog...it has a few puzzle feeders in too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEvEW0W7vHI

So yes, if you have a dog that's on the go or causing mischief constantly, tire them out! Up the physical and mental exercise and you'll be sure to have a tired dog by the end of it