22/03/2024
‘My dog is naughty/bad/untrainable/dominant/stupid’
I hear this most weeks on intake forms. Usually I get pretty excited to see these cos I know I’m gonna get to change a dog and owners life!
So often we write our dogs off as any adjective that fits the above and honestly, I’m yet to meet a dog who fits any of those adjectives (and I have worked with 10k plus dogs over the ten years I’ve been doing this!). I do however week in week out meet dogs with health issues that contribute to their slow progress in terms of training. Did you know dogs don’t show pain or discomfort how we do? We often think ‘oh he isn’t limping or yelping so he is fine’.
Please read the examples below ⬇️
🐾 A huntaway cross who I work with who bit his owner. Reluctant to have his feet cleaned, got spicy over any intense handling, had periods of seeming insanity and relentless barking and being unable to calm down. Huntaways are vocal dogs… but…
Turns out he had hip dysplasia. This dog didn’t limp. He wasn’t lame in any way. He chased his ball and sprinted and jumped and had no issues physically on the surface however under that behaviour was pain.
🐾 A French bulldog. Resource guarding to the extreme. Bit his owners while resource guarding the knot pattern in their wooden floor. Also bombed around without a worry in the world and had no outward signs of pain.
Turns out he had a severe spinal condition causing intermittent excruciating pain.
🐾 A young spaniel owned by a very good friend who was having confidence issues. She would ‘tap out’ of training on the regular and my friend went from ‘this is my ticket dog who will represent my country’ to ‘is this even possible?’
Dog had hormonal issues and likely spikes of hormones left right and centre. A carefully timed spay and she is now grade 6 in agility.
🐾 A friends Border Collie. Owned by a very experienced and talented agility handler and trainer. Regularly ‘checked out’ of training sessions, seemed to not be able to learn things that were moderately straightforward. Described by other trainers as ‘oh she is just a border collie it’s what they are like’.
Turns out she is mostly deaf.
🐾 A black Labrador. Always social and friendly and attended brilliant puppy classes and adolescent classes. Had the best start training wise you can imagine. He started showing some intermittent aggression to his owners in the home and aggression to other dogs out and about.
Turns out he had bilateral elbow dysplasia.
🐾 Young German Shepherd. Always energetic and silly in her behaviour but suddenly got worse. Excessive zoomies, inability to settle, increased reactivity to other dogs, reluctant to get in the car, obsessive destruction at home.
Turns out she had an infection in her va**na that was causing discomfort and exacerbating all those teenage behaviours to the point of being unmanageable.
🐾 My own dog! My NSDTR started missing his dog walk contact early last year. I was tearing my hair out trying to fix it.
Turns out he had a minor iliopsoas strain and some physio fixed the issue for us.
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All these dogs have one thing in common. They are not stupid or untrainable or naughty or dominant. They are uncomfortable and that is triggering extreme behaviour fallout.
None of the above issues would be resolveable with training. All of the issues will be resolveable with training ONLY when the pain is resolved. Some of them will have drastic improvement from the moment the pain or discomfort is managed!
If your behaviourist or trainer doesn’t immediately advise a veterinary visit if any aggression, excessive ‘naughtiness’ or strange behaviour is present, walk away immediately. Even if you think your dog is fine, visit the vets. Ask for a thorough examination and push for a proper evaluation of your dog from nose to tail and potentially blood tests too. If you’re still not sure, get a second opinion.
You cannot train the pain or discomfort out of your dog. Address THIS first and foremost.
