I have talked about nervous dogs in the past. A brief interaction while out walking yesterday brings me back to the subject.
While walking with a couple of other dogs and their owners, we came across three people with two dogs. One of the dogs was wearing an ‘anxious dog’ tabard. As we approached (all my little group’s dogs were on their leads), the nervous dog showed interest in our dogs and, clearly, wanted to have some interaction. I mentioned that I was a behaviourist, and we could stop if they liked. The nervous dog owner was being encouraged to stand in front of the dog and feed it treats to ‘distract’ it.
One of the group, said they were doing a training session and that, they too, were a trainer and behaviourist. I had crouched down, away from the dog, who then approached to have a stroke; very calmly I might add. At the same time my dog was standing, very calmly, within a foot of this ‘nervous dog’ with me in between them. The ‘nervous’ dog came closer, had a sniff of my dog, and just relaxed. The other trainer then hurried her group away.
There are several points that concern me here:
the use of tabards or lead sleeves, which declare a dog has a problem, although well meaning, are not helpful. The use of these ‘labels’ encourages an owner to change their behaviour, to accommodate their dog’s ‘problem.’ The counter argument, of course, is that ‘warning’ others about the dog with problems will keep people away. From a behaviour perspective, this is not, really, helping the dog.
the current trend, is to block the dog’s view and ply it with treats to ‘distract’ it. There is some element of logic with this but, many owners don’t really seem to understand when to stop.
In the interaction described above, the ‘anxious’ dog showed no anxiety whatsoever. A well-controlled and gentle interaction resulted in a positive experience for the ‘anxious’ dog. A far better approach, in my view, than underpinning an owner and their dogs, perceived anxiety. There will, of course, be people who, vehemently, disagree with my view.
I would stress that I am not advocating owners allow other dogs to approach without control. However, in my experience, adopting a positive approach always helps a nervous dog.
