What an eclectic mix of dogs came along to last weekend's Behaviour Clinic. Some didn't know how to deal with the world around them... others thought they owned it. One thing they all had in common was they needed help to become well- balanced sociable dogs.
The problem owners face is nervous dogs only defer their fears and phobias up the line but never down. It makes no sense for a frightened dog to defer his problem to a pack member he thinks is weaker than he is and you cannot rehabilitate a nervous dog with affection.
The natural human instinct to fuss and reassure a fearful dog simply makes the problem worse. Over a period of time nervous dogs mirror the attitude of their owner. Fussing and petting a fearful dogs tells them you approve of their reaction and you get more nervous behaviour.
In order to rehabilitate an unbalanced dog you need to be calmly assertive as you recondition it's response to stressful situations. Dogs will only do this with a calm, strong, leader from which they can draw confidence.
You must not become frustrated or anxious or it will feed directly into the dog making it even more unbalanced. Everything has to be done in a calm matter of fact way.
I quite often work in complete silence showing the dog what I want by my body language and use of the lead. I've learned that silence is golden when dealing with nervous dogs. Almost all aggression is fear based so the calmer I am the better.
In most cases I can show a result within 30 minutes but every dog teaches me something new so I'm constantly adapting my methods.
It was a great honour last weekend to have all those dogs trust me with their fears and phobias.
I promise to never give up on any dog.
If you have a dog in need of help you can contact me any time by email or text me on 07590-560012.
