If you are a regular reader of my newsletter, you’ve heard me say that many of dogs’ behavior problems are rooted in anxiety.Aggression, fears, phobias, and even attention seeking behaviors can be caused by the dog’s elevated levels of adrenaline or other hormones, otherwise known as anxiety.Knowing this, we can identify the things that cause your dog’s anxiety to elevate – I call them triggers.And once you know the triggers, working with your dog to resolve the issues becomes easier. A trigger can be anything from another dog that your dog sees; someone approaching his food bowl, bone or toy; a child or a stranger; or the excitement of a situation. First, think about the issue(s) you may have with your dog.Observe the situation where your dog misbehaves.What is happening the very instant before your dog reacts?Notice changes in your dog’s body postures and movements that may predict the reaction such as ears and tail, eyes, and rate of respiration.My dog, Gizzy, has issues with other dogs.As soon as he sees one, he starts to ‘huff and puff,’ as I call it.The closer we get to the other dog, the faster his respiration rate.I’m sure if I could take his pulse, his heart rate would be zooming! For dog-to-dog aggression, you already know that encountering another dog is the trigger.But the secret to working with your dog’s behavior is knowing just when ‘the trigger is pulled.’In other words, notice the exact moment when your dog’s anxiety begins to elevate.Is it when the other dog is 100 feet away, or one foot away?By distracting or counter-conditioning your dog BEFORE the trigger is pulled, you stand the best chance at resolving the issue.In the case of my Gizzy, I need to do counter-conditioning work with him before the huffing and puffing begins, or else he’s difficult to distract and the work will be ineffective.
Let’s use nipping as another example.I encounter so many dogs who never learned about proper bite inhibition.They seize and latch onto sleeves, pant legs, arms, hands, coat hoods, or anything else within grabbing distance.This habit is not only annoying but can hurt, especially if small children are the target.Some dogs enter a ‘zone’ during a heavy dose of nipping where nothing you do will disengage the dog. Yelling at the dog only escalates the behavior.A dog who acts this way is clearly in a state of heightened anxiety – the adrenaline is really pumping.In order to avoid the dog getting into this zone, it is possible to notice what is going on prior to the episode.Some people like to play rough with their dogs.For a dog who cannot control his bite, rough play raises the adrenaline.Knowing this, you can avoid that ‘trigger.’Play needs to be directed to a not-so-stimulating activity – fetch, hide and seek, maybe even some obedience practice.Some dogs go into the nipping zone when children talk loud, scream and yell or run around.The dog simply cannot handle that much stimulation. Those activities are the triggers for the dog’s uncontrollable nipping. If you know your dog has certain triggers, it’s best to either avoid them altogether or be very aware of when they occur so you can work on them.