Q: Our dog Porsche has been somewhat rough on poor old Graham. She loves to bite and play, and takes advantage of Graham’s gentle nature by dragging him all around by his cheek. When she does this, there is a ridge of fur standing up on Porsche’s back. Poor Graham does not complain or retaliate, but he used to have actual scabs under his face fur from her bites.
We have reduced this behavior using a spray bottle of water when Porsche would not obey our commands to stop. Graham has not had any scabs lately. Are we handling this behavior correctly?
Any advice we can get on raising Porsche to become a civilized animal would be very helpful. We mostly got puppies in the past, and our effort to do the responsible thing and give a home to a full-grown pound dog has resulted in a very tough transition.
Thank you!
— J.W., Medina
A: Thank you for this question. I am always being asked how a dog’s behavior should be corrected. My training and experience dictate that positive reinforcement is the only way to go.
While not all dog trainers will agree with this, I think you would have a hard time finding a Veterinary Behavior Specialist that will disagree. A website I urge everyone to utilize is www.drsophiayin.com. Dr. Yin provides many great resources for pet owners, including videos.
Using a spray bottle during bad behavior may appear to work on the surface, but it causes fear, anxiety and confusion in your dog. This can lead to other behavior problems. Your dog will learn that a particular behavior, in front of you, will be punished. She may just be more careful about when or where she displays that particular behavior.
Porsche may not understand that her behavior is bad. To her, she is playing with Graham, he is OK with the play, but you punish her. I doubt she is trying to be vicious from the way you describe the situation, so does she now believe that playing in front of people is not allowed?
An important concept to remember when training a pet is that they do not comprehend things the way we do. If you come home and find your dog tore up furniture while you were gone and you punish the dog, he can’t figure out what the punishment is for. This is the same with rewarding good behavior. You have to signal during the behavior for your pet to be able to associate what he is doing with your reaction.
Personally I love clicker training. It often takes too long to grab a treat for your dog to understand why he is being given a treat. We only have a split second to relay the message “this behavior makes me happy” for a dog to realize what he did to make you happy. As soon as you see the good behavior, you click the clicker. The click reinforces the behavior and gives you a few seconds to grab the treat or give praise.
If you are training a puppy to sit and he sits, even if not commanded to do so, click and treat. When a dog learns that what he does makes you happy and gets him a treat or praise, he will continue to do that behavior. If he does something you do not like and you ignore him, he will stop repeating that behavior because it gets him nowhere.
An example is a dog that jumps on people when they come in the door. If he is jumping and you’re trying to push him down, you’re telling him to get down, etc. … he is getting attention for the behavior. If you ignore him and walk away he gets nothing out of the behavior.
The next time someone walks in the door and he doesn’t jump, click and treat. You may have to send someone in and out over and over until the dog is no longer excited and jumping. He will get the idea pretty quick that one behavior gets him nothing and the other gets him praise, love and treats. He will consistently do the behavior that is rewarded over the behavior you want him to stop.
For your situation with Porsche and Graham, I would recommend using a clicker and treats when they are playing nice. Hopefully this will stop Porsche from being too rough. Dogs generally learn appropriate play behavior from their playmates. If one dog is playing too rough, the other either uses correction (a bark or a nip) or refuses to play. Graham is not “telling” Porsche to change her behavior, which places you in the middle.
Please utilize the free resources that Dr. Yin has to offer on her website. She may have more tips that will be helpful in your situation.
— Dr. Connie White Lawless, Pet Vet Animal Clinic, 2777 Copley Road, Copley Township
Please send questions about your pet to Kathy Antoniotti at the Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640; or email kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com. Please include your full name and address and a daytime phone number where you can be reached. Questions will be forwarded to an expert best suited to address your pet issue. Phoned-in messages will not be taken.