The Basset Hound Club of Victoria Inc. Australia         

From: Jim Willis & Nicole Valentin-Willis/Tiergarten Sanctuary Trust jwillis@bellatlantic.net
Subject: Stay calm, stay positive when dealing with problem dogs

I've been keeping up an erratic private correspondence with some of you about dog problems, mostly aggression. Thanks to my mail server's continuing problems, since Thanksgiving, I'm getting only a trickle of mail and often days late.

This is mostly just a message of encouragement. I've heard from dog owner's who are heartbroken over situations where their dog doesn't like them or their other dogs, and puppy's instead of being sweet, are trying to bite their owners. Some owners have made the painful decision to give the dog to a good home, and then learned the more painful reality that the right new home is very rare, and that most Rescues are so flooded with good dogs, they don't have the resources for bad dogs.

I can't tell you sight unseen what's wrong with your dog. The best anyone can do long distance is tell you that you and your dog fit a particular scenario, and suggest some things that have worked for other dogs and owners. And although there are different schools of thought and people who blame nature more, or nurture more, the one thing I believe everyone who deals with these problems will agree on is that many owners aren't paying enough attention to their dog's "dogness." Often when they are describing a "problem," they are simply describing a normal component of canine behaviour. Our grandmothers cautioned us to "let sleeping dogs lie," and we're still wondering why the dog refuses to  give up the couch?

There are numerous reasons why dog problems seem to be escalating, and one of those is that we're paying more attention to problems. Some of the reasons are cultural - 100 years ago dogs served more of a purpose, true pets were a luxury, the typical farmer or hunter simply put down a bad dog as not being worth having. Neighbours didn't tolerate a dog who bit children. Still today, if you are around hunting or working dogs much, you'll see what wonderful temperaments they have; personality problems interfere with their ability to perform their function, and owners who depend on a symbiotic relationship with their dog have to pay attention to the "dogness," and that includes breeding for the right temperament.

There's no sense rehashing how the cultural relationship with dogs changed, but some of it has reached the ridiculous (video monitoring of doggie daycare centres? Really!). For some owners, dogs are child-replacements, unfortunately, dogs are not children, they are dogs.

The market for purebred dogs exploded, and some of the wrong people responded to meet the need. And in Bassets, once known for their wonderful temperament, the concentration was focused on "form" not "function." We forgot about their "houndness."

Good breeders, if they don't look beyond their own circle, won't know what I am talking about, because they are breeding for both conformation and temperament. Unfortunately, because they are good breeders and are home-raising a limited number of puppies, they are not the major supplier of Basset puppies in the US, and that's a sad fact now true for every breed.

Nature is critically important, there is a biological basis of behaviour, and bad dogs pass along bad seed. Mama dogs with bad temperaments teach their babies the wrong lessons. Nurture is critically important, which is why I advise getting an older puppy home-raised by a competent breeder, and why I think puppy mill-born dogs transported long distances to mall pet shops is one of the WORST recipes for creating companion animals.

So what do you do when both nature and nurture have failed your dog, or you are the second or third owner of an adult dog who was passed around because of problems? Can dogs overcome their earlier problems? Speaking< from my own experience, in a great many instances they can, and it's a testimony to the wonderful resiliency of the dog.

I'm trying to be brief, so I'll only mention some starting points. You and your dog have a lot of hard work ahead of you, and nobody can do it for you, and there are no miracle cures.
First, you must pay attention to your dog's dogness. Dogs need attention, time, touch, a lot of exercise, a wholesome diet, clear rules and a schedule they can depend on. Are you prepared to do that, or have you just tried to cram a dog into an overflowing lifestyle? Is the family dog an equal family member, or is he last on the list for any attention?
Relate to your dog on his level - get down on the floor with him. Go for a walk in the woods with him and see what he sees. Realize that you are
his whole world and he depends on you for everything. Most dogs need other dogs, does your dog have that opportunity?
Most dog's aggression is based in fear and under socialization; what caused those fears?
The principal way dogs communicate with each other is visual, every posture and every position of the tail has a meaning for them. What visual cues are you giving your dog, and are you being consistent?

Stop focusing on the bad behaviour and concentrate, and praise, what your dog does right.
Jean Donaldson (you really must read her book "Culture Clash") wrote:
"Shaping the absence of the behaviour you do not wish to reward is an underused technique."
That's so simple, it's brilliant. Too many owners of bad dogs have an adversarial relationship with the dog, and most of their communication becomes "don't do that, bad dog!" Forget about arguing with your dog
over the couch for now, in the meantime, praise and reward your dog for being at your side in another location and not getting on the couch. One reason clicker training is so successful is because it's providing an immediate cue and reward for an appropriate response, and ignoring no response or the wrong response.

You really must learn to think like a dog, and your dog can teach you some things about that. Consider what most owners do with a problem barker - the dog begins to bark, and the owner joins in with screams to "Quit it! Shut up!" What the dog hears and understands is that the two of you are having a "barking party." Reward the silence, come up with a cue of soft praise for calling your dog into your lap for a belly rub when he begins to bark. Dogs aren't stupid. Do they want to bark at nothing, or do they want to be touched and praised by you?

If you ended up with a problem dog, you are his best hope and probably his last. Pay attention to every problem immediately. Help is everywhere - books, discussion lists, trainers, classes, and behaviourists. Your dog knows more about you and how you're feeling than you know about him. You even smell different when you are nervous or afraid, and he knows it.
Treat him as a problem and he will be a problem. Stay positive, firm, loving and attentive, and he will more often than not reward you by becoming the best dog he can be.

Good luck,
Jim