The Dog I Rescued Snarls For No Reason.
Question:
Hello,
We just rescued a dog the other day. I’ve grown up with dogs before and so has my husband. We have a 16 year old girl and a 13 year old boy. At all initial signs before the adoption, the dog seemed sociable, well mannered and had some noticeable training for commands such as sit, stay, down, etc… He’s a 10month old lab mix.
When we first assessed him, he didn’t seem hand shy, foot shy or or show any outward signs of abuse and/or neglect. What is perplexing is that he’s snarled several times at each of our family members. Without any known provocation. For instance I was sleeping in my bed and when I was getting up this am the dog bounded into the bedroom jumped on my bed and started to snarl at me. To which I told him no and down – loudly. The dog turned and left the room. Another instance was on the couch the dog crawled up and laid down next to me then turned head and snarled as if he was ready to attack. There were similiar situations with the rest of the family as well. He’s a good sized dog – part puppy and adolescent at the same time. Of course we went back and had the shelter call the prior family to ask additional questions of the prior owners. They of course denied any of these types of behavior problems with them, so it’s hard to assess. Of course the dog has gone through a shock,
shock of leaving his old home, shock of being the shelter and then a new home. We’ve rescued dogs before, with other issues, but this one is perplexing. I’ve never had a dog come out of no where and just snarling.
ANSWER:
Here are some tips for dealing with this problem:
1. Don’t allow the dog onto the bed or other furniture. There has been one common denominator with each of these incidents; elevation. In the dog world height can sometimes be equated with dominance. The higher the dog is, the more dominant he feels, and the more apt he is to ‘put you in your place’. Some dogs can be on the furniture and it never causes a problem with dominance but with your dog it would be wise to train him to stay off the furniture.
2. It’s time to start some obedience training! What you are dealing with is a dog that doesn’t recognize you 100% as the leader. If he did, he would never dare to act this way toward you.
You can find dozens of methods for how to achieve dominance with a dog from flipping them on their back to growling at them to eating your meal before they have a turn with their food. These methods are silly and will do nothing to achieve dominance.
Dominance is achieved as your dog learns to put your will ahead of his own. How is that accomplished? Simple, it is accomplished through obedience training. The more he returns to your side when you say ‘come’, the more he walks on a loose leash, the more he stays when told, the more he is putting your command ahead of what he would rather do at the moment. No, obedience shouldn’t be stifling and a drag. But what is should be with your dog is performed at a high level. Teach him obedience around distractions and train him to listen to you under all scenarios. This level of obedience is what will go miles in establishing you as the leader of your home.
Good luck.
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I strongly disagree with the advice you’ve been given. Dominance is neither the cause nor the solution to everything.
It’s all about antecedents, behaviors, and consequences. Most Master’s, PhD, and DVM level behaviorists will tell you that dominance theory is the dog behavior world’s equivalent of the Flat Earth Society.
You need a behaviorist to come in and observe your dog, identify the triggers, and set up a program for systematic desensitization and counterconditioning.
Correcting a dog that is growling may very well get you a dog that bites “without warning.” Why? Because he has been corrected for growling in the past, and growling is a warning!
Get a behaviorist, an accurate and in-person assessment of the situation, and follow the training plan you are given. Google “Nothing in Life is Free” and implement it. To find a behaviorist in your area, check out IAABC and the Animal Behavior Society.
Nowhere in this article is it purported that dominance is the cause or solution of everything. You are also misinterpreting what you believe to be dominance theory as it relates to what the article is talking about.
Second, where are you getting your info that “Most Master’s, PhD, and DVM level behaviorists will tell you that dominance theory is the dog behavior world’s equivalent of the Flat Earth Society.”
Where could I go to find that MOST of this group is feeling one way?
If it is true that many feel one way then it is also true that many feel another. Truth be told, the highly educated behaviorists that I have seen rely on theory based on ’scientific’ studies that were performed where the use of compulsion was done in a completely inappropriate way. It is no wonder that ’studies’ have found that compulsion can worsen the problem when the compulsion being used was done incorrectly.
You can have your studies and theories. Those work great in classrooms and text books. I’ll have what I have visually seen work time and time again in working hands on with dogs.