lockdown dogs Archives - The Stray Ferret

Kim’s Canines: Has the last year made our dogs more reactive?

This column is written for the Stray Ferret by Kimberley Metcalfe. Kimberley has an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare. Her company Pooches Galore is based in Harrogate and specialises in dog training and resolving canine behavioural problems.

I’m not sure if it is a consequence of the severe restrictions we have been living under with our dogs, the increase in the number of dogs on walks, lack of socialisation or something else altogether: but I am seeing more and more reactive dogs.

Reactivity is a bit of a catch all term we use for dogs who bark, lunge, and even bite at other dogs or people. I normally see it come from a place of fear or uncertainty. And one thing we know is that the last year has been uncertain for us – and I’m sure it has also been uncertain for our dogs.

We have spent a year keeping our distance from others and we might even have tightened up on the lead to move them out of the way, which has meant that our dogs have also kept their distance from others. Many dogs will be fine with this and will bounce back with no problems at all. However, many dogs will have picked up on this and will have developed some anxiety in certain situations.

Reactivity normally comes from a place of fear, with the dog’s behaviour escalating gradually resulting in barking and lunging at dogs or people. Normally the dog’s behaviour begins with very subtle signs, often so subtle you have to be really looking for them to notice. These behaviours include lip licking, yawning, scratching at the collar – see how subtle they are?

Because they are so subtle, they are often missed. When they are missed or ignored, the dog then has to increase their behaviour to make the signs more obvious. Eventually the dog has to continually increase the intensity of their body language until they reach barking, growling, lunging – and even biting. These much more obvious signs almost always work to remove the threat.

When we work with dogs who are stressed in different situations, we need to look closely at behaviours they offer us from a distance to help them feel more secure and that the other dogs or people are not a threat to them. Ultimately, we need to change their underlying emotions when they see their trigger, from a place of fear, anxiety or uncertainly, instead teaching the dog that good things happen. The trigger predicts something good!

There is a very subtle art to this science, and timing and distance is everything. If your dog is struggling, please reach out: we can help you to have a happier life with your dog.

Kim’s Canines: supporting our dogs out of lockdown

Lockdown has been a strange time for all of us, and our dogs included. I think though for them it is more of a positive change, having their owners around is most dogs’ dream! However, this change has also caused a number of problems for our dogs.

As we come to the end of our second lockdown, we need to check that our dogs are coping with these changes.

The primary concern that we have seen coming out of the first lockdown, is dogs getting so used to us being around that when we started to leave them home alone, they just couldn’t cope. Although this second lockdown has meant that we have been able to leave the house more, for the majority of us, we are spending more time at home with our dogs.

It is important to ensure that our dogs are fine home alone, and to know this we can record our dogs when they are home alone. Hopefully, what we will see is our dogs curling up and going to sleep.

What we don’t want to see is our dogs crying, howling, pacing around, toileting (if they are fully housetrained), not eating treats that you’ve left for them or destroying your home (you’ll probably not need a video for this one!). Although these signs don’t necessarily mean that your dog has separation anxiety, it does mean that we need to help them settle when they are home alone. If a dog is struggling with separation anxiety, it is important to build up departures very slowly to allow our dogs to get used to being home alone.

Other problems that we have seen have been around people coming into the home. As we haven’t had people into our homes, many dogs are finding it very strange when people are coming in. Hopefully for many dogs, pairing people coming into the home with a tasty stuffed kong or a nice chew will mean that your dog looks forward to people coming in rather than being fearful! It is the positive association which we want to encourage.

The most important thing to bear in mind with our dogs, is that in every home in the land there is some level of underlying stress due to the pandemic. This will have an effect on our dogs, as they pick up on the changes in our hormones and pheromones, and can detect stress and fear. This will have an overall impact on our dog’s behaviour. These might be subtle, where they sit a little closer to us, or through larger behavioural changes such as separation anxiety or aggression. No two dogs will react to advice in the same way, so if your dog has developed aggressive behaviour, it is important to get specific advice from a professional.

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