Liz Mahony is an experienced Dog Trainer and Holistic Therapist for all animals. In her monthly column, Liz aims to promote mutual respect between carer and dog. Contact Liz at
corkdogtrainingclasses.com
It’s a known fact that the greatest stress felt by dogs is living with us. Yes, it seems hard to believe but not when you delve into what causes stress.
Inconsistencies: Dogs see the world in black and white. I don’t mean that they are colour blind but that life is an either/or situation. As a result, they find it very difficult when we are inconsistent in our dealings with them. That could mean being ambivalent or casual in our training or attention to them.
They feel the most secure when we teach them boundaries or house rules or whatever you like to call training, and then stick to them. And when they’re secure, they trust and respect us, and are quite happy to follow our guidance.
If they don’t know how we are going to react in any given situation, they get worried and that leads to stress in varying degrees. The more stressed they become, the less likely they are to listen to us because they can’t depend on us. The more they stop listening to us, the more we ourselves become stressed and generally even less consistent! And so the vicious circle continues.
Dealing with stress in dogs means we need to employ lots of self control. If we don’t have our own emotions in control we can’t expect our dogs to have any.
Dogs thrive on routine and any disruption can cause varying amounts of stress depending on the character of the dog and even the breed itself.
Loud noises: Dogs have much better hearing than us. It must be difficult for them living in such a busy, noisy world. They have to contend with radios turned up to the nth degree; the hustle and bustle of crowds with their endless chatter; the loud noise of vehicles passing – and within that sphere, there is the further extra din of lorries breaking and tractors roaring past with rattling trailers.
That sort of stress can be cumulative until a dog is cowering beside you unable to move. Reassuring him doesn’t work because he’s overwhelmed with the assault on his senses. It’s so much more positive to introduce these noises in a calm and gradual manner until he’s acclimatised and, thus, able to tolerate the next noisy vehicle.
Communication Stress: It’s natural that dogs feel a certain amount of stress living with us. They can cope with a low level of stress. However, if we can’t or won’t learn to read their distress signals, our dogs reach new levels of stress. If they feel no-one is listening and they become more and more worried, they may go over their threshold and bite. And, because we weren’t reading their signals, we never recognised the escalation in their behaviour. As far as we are concerned, the bite ‘came out of the blue’!
Meeting and greeting new dogs/people: Not every dog is a born socialite. Some are naturals; some need a bit of encouragement; and some just don’t want extra company! We need to recognise into which category our dog falls, and respect it.
After all, some of us humans thrive on company while some of us shun it!
Any dog will react if we try to force them into a meet and greet situation that makes them uncomfortable. If they’re uncomfortable, they become stressed. If they become stressed, they can react badly.
My philosophy when dealing with a new dog and trying to introduce him to something new such as people/dogs is to watch the world go by from a distance. Once a dog lies down, closes his eyes, relaxes, he’s taken in everything and can cope. Then you bring him closer with a small step and watch his reactions to ensure he remains relaxed.
If he becomes stressed, beginning to bark or lunge, then you take him back to his previous position where he was relaxed and happy, and let him find his level again. The secret is to take it very slowly and let him know you’re reading his signals so that he, in turn, learns to trust you in any given situation. It’s a learning curve for both of you.
Moving home: We all know how stressful moving home is no matter how much we might welcome it. Spare a thought for your dog. His whole routine is upset because you, his family, have your mind on other things.
Then, he has to contend with a new environment in the house itself; a new neighbourhood with all those strange smells; different dogs/people on his walks. All these things can be really stressful.
The same applies if you have decided to re-home your dog. Suddenly, his whole lifestyle has been turned upside down and he may have to spend time in a shelter. Some dogs just never settle in that crowded, noisy environment and their stress levels rise exponentially, coupled with the fact they may be pining for a previous owner/family.
These are just a few of the situations that can cause extra stress. It’s no wonder some dogs can’t cope!
