Looking at dogs

What I wish credible trainers, behaviorists and veterinary behaviorists would make public are photographs and videotape of dog behavior with clear identification and make it available to the average dog owner. I don’t mean training videos, but behavior: images of dogs who are anxious and relaxed; normal and not normal dogs within the same context. What do they sounds like, what to do they look like?

The question of identifying relaxation has come up frequently on our dog aggression group where anxiety and relaxation are critical to treatment. Its difficult to explain what relaxation looks like – especially online – unless you can actually see comparisons. You would think it would be easy, but its not. Again and again, owners are challenged to recognize what relaxation actually looks like. Until we can do identify relations reliably, treatment is going to be an uphill battle.

Many of us become desensitized to peculiar aspects of our dogs behavior and we start to think its just “them”. Well, of course it is just them (who else would it be), but they may also being showing you signs of anxiety that we are not recognizing. Anxiety is tricky because its an internal state and it can manifest through any kind of experience or interaction in a variety of behaviors. When it does, it is usually behavior that is outside of “normal” as compared to other dogs without anxiety.

Those of us who have multiple dogs are lucky because we can at least we are aware of the differences even if we can’t identify why such as the: The aggressive dog who always seems hyper-alert to the slightest thing outside when the others snooze on the couch. The dog who never investigates when he comes into a new room. The dog who can’t sit still after an hours of being in a new room. The dog that lies down with his legs and tail tucked in. This is the stuff you get to see when you go to the veterinary or training conferences but generally is hard to find for average dog owners.  I’d like to see these videos/images online. For free.

We are so used to looking at dogs in a modular fashion. So many dog owners spend hours analyzing why their dog has gone after Fluffy, but not Fido, and why yesterday, but not today, but today he went after a big dog, and he never had issues with big dogs before. Well, that’s just us being human. Sometimes we are trying to justify it, sometimes we are in denial, but mostly we try to make sense of things.  But its hard to make sense of things when we don’t have all the information we need.

One of the most popular pages on the K9aggression site is the page on types of aggression in dogs. You can imagine people pouring over those descriptions and trying to match it up to their dogs. Some people get despondent seeing owner-directed aggression, food aggression and possession aggressive. Lots of debates have centered around whether their dog had protective aggression or territorial aggression. Actually, if our dog is aggressive towards other dogs – we kind of like the idea our dog is protecting us (its all about us – we’re so predictable). But we don’t like the aggression or the problems is causes for us.

But the kind of aggression our dog is classified with does not give us much information except in predicting the circumstances where might happen again (which is actually huge, but usually not what people focus on), and then to some degree how to treat. But aggression is not our dog’s problem. Its a symptom of the problem(s) – a non-specific symptom at that. It does not always occur in isolation to the specific trigger, even if it looks to us that way. Most of us just learning about aggression know very little about it, or about anxiety as an underlying contributor.

If our dog really has the larger problem of anxiety, then learning about anxiety will inform us much more about the aggression. The more we understand anxiety, the more likely we are to recognize it in a variety of situations. The more we understand it, the less inclined we are to expose our dogs to the triggers of anxiety. In turn we will see less aggression without treatment simply because we are managing it much better.

In some circles there is moral judgement around “just” managing your dog’d behavior, when we should be treating our dog. To some degree I subscribe to this, because a dog who can be helped is a happier and potentially safer dog. I say potentially, because people can be lulled into the idea that their dogs are no longer aggressive when the changes in the brain never go away.

However, so many people do not know how to properly treat their dogs, even when they buy into the idea of desensitization and counter conditioning. The reason for this is because doing these techniques right depends on recognizing when your dog is relaxed. In most cases we are only looking for what is not there (i.e. I can proceed to get my dog closer to his trigger because he is not acting aggressive), opposed to the behavior that is actually there: is it a quiet, still, focused body, or loose limbed dog? Dogs give lots of signs, but we don’t always know how to read them.

Some people claim that aggressive pitbulls give no warning to their aggression and this is what makes them dangerous. I would argue that in fact pitbulls give signs as much as any other dogs. But some may not give the same kinds of signals that some other types may. I have seen some dogs play and act submissively – excited, almost manic. They seem like silly crazy puppies, when in reality there is no submission there at all. They are not truly playing – and this may be our inability to differentiate between different mode of interaction – but they are interacting anxiously and trying desperately to get signals from the other person or dog. It looks like play on the outside, to us, at least, and maybe it will never turn. But that silly crazy behavior may be a cue for issues in other areas of the dogs life

Dog owners hyper-focus on the behavior of aggression because that is their problem, when by the time their dog is acting aggressive its too late – the damage is done. Dog owners can be susceptible to those professionals who can promise to stop the behavior now (or soon). Hyper focusing on suppressing the behavior interferes with understanding and treating the underlying causes. Interestingly not too much literature is out there by shocking people for anxious responses. For the most part the standard treatment includes relaxation as an important element.

Unfortunately not enough solid comprehensible information is out there to help owners establish trust and treat their dogs humanely. Desensitization and counterconditioning is understandable is theory, but in practice is a challenge to execute as it is with people. It usually gets reduced to throwing the dog some treats.

But if we can focus on relaxation and getting our dogs there we are on to something, because a relaxed dog is not an aggressive dog. Start in the home, start to teach them what it means to relax, start teaching them what they need to do to relax. And reward them for relaxing so they get it and can do it on cue. In time relaxation can be self reinforcing.

In the mean time I encourage any trainers, behaviorist and vet behaviorists – make the stuff available online (we can help with the online part). Identify what is a relaxed dog, what is not a relaxed dog. Identify a relaxed mouth and a tense mouth. Show us the wrinkled brow, show us the tucked in legs, show us comparisons. Tell us more about stress responses.

Dog owners need it. Dogs need it.

More on social cognition: The summary of this abstract is that spectator dogs preferred to approach the winner of the games opposed to approaching either winner or loser of a competition.

This is a really interesting study on a number of levels. But for now, it reminds us not to fall into the oversimplification trap. Simplification is valuable as a way to retain an idea to hang more complicated information on to. We are only human after all, and we can’t remember more than a few things at a time. But you can communicate some basic ideas that people are actually going to remember.

The trouble is, over simplification can also be misleading when we start to shape our whole interactions with our dogs around it without factoring into the complications or contradictions. This is a trap many new owners fall into when following advice. They suddenly lose that intuitive connection they have with their dogs as they follow a program that may not feel like second nature to them. In most cases, after a mild loss of innocence, the owner will regain it as they start to work with their dogs and start to fully absorb the lessons. That is probably the most interesting aspect about working with dogs with behavior problems. The lessons you learn continue to deliver meaning as you develop new facets of your relationship with your dog. Unfortunately, it takes time.

When you have a dog you need to change right now, and you are a hard worker, you do everything you can, everything that you are taught. Right now. If you have a dog with a behavior problem you are willing to give up everything you think you know because you assume it must have not helped you or you wouldn’t be dealing with the issue!

It’s kind of the double edge sword of human egos. For some of us, we honestly believe we can control these things, and that we haven’t, means our failure. If you are extra unlucky you find an “expert” who exploits that fact.

So we follow the plan, in hopes of taking on the new knowledge to steer us in the right direction. Except the new knowledge comes in simplified form, (so we can absorb is and actually use it). And inevitably something comes up that the plan doesn’t address.

There is a lot discussed in NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) theories that we must control the resources to gain or maintain the leadership role. There is a lot of advice giving us different variations how gain control over resources. In fact even the word “resources” in this context is so tightly integrated with the “dog advice industry”. Most people know of resources, as the stuff the dog wants. If you are using the word resources, you’ve probably been studying up on dogs that are misbehaving.

But this abstract reminds us that our relationship with our dogs does not start and end with control. Dogs perceive intent, and that they are not just paying attention to how we treat them, but they are also gathering information about how we relate to others in the world. Social learning and cognition is not just about one to one interactions.

It made me think about family dynamics, dog behavior issues and how little anyone talks about whatever else is happening in the home. Of course that’s personal and some people have even been criticized for discussing their conflicts with their significant other on dog forums. So, just out of curiosity, I did a search on Google for the phrase “don’t argue in front of the dog” on Google just to see what came up. That’s advice I hear for parents, but has anyone actually suggested this for dogs?

I found about four links: one on a marriage site said, “Don’t argue in front of the dog (he’ll suspect a challenge for leadership of the pack and he’ll side with the victor to secure his advancement in the ranks, much like a Klingon.) ” Well, its good natured advice complete with the typical idea that dogs are ambitious social climbers and only view the world in terms of who they can step on to get to the top, where at the top they will order us to make their breakfast (like they don’t already).

But, maybe the advice should be: don’t argue in front of the dog because he might not want to approach either one of you. Oh – I think I sense a whole new self-help industry starting to bloom as I write.

But it does put a spin on things for people who are dealing with owner-aggressive dogs. What might we be doing in our interactions with others that is our dogs or picking up, or are misinterpreting about who we are and what our intension might be?

Dogs are better than monkeys when it comes to reading our social cues to find hidden food and according to this “study, are “unusually skilled as reading human social and communicative behavior”.

Yet in a study with selectively bred foxes who were not selected for this skill, but bred to not be fearful of humans, the fox kits are apparently just as good as dog puppies, even those who had limited exposure to humans. This paper suggests that the social-cognitive abilities could be part of the same system including tameness. People may have not select dogs for their special abilities in communicating with us, but these abilities may be a byproduct of our selecting dogs that were not fearful or aggressive.

It naturally leads to the question; do aggressive or fearful dogs today have more challenged social-cognitive skills? One would think that aggressive dogs are more preoccupied with coping in a social setting than dogs who do not tend to be aggressive, and therefor have less “mental space” to figure us out. But in people, there is a correlation between aggression and a deficit in social cognitive abilities.

It is generally considered that owner-directed aggression is partly due to the anxiety of not knowing what is expected of them, confusion around the relationship or the interactions and not being able to predict what comes next. In view of social-cognitive impairment – this makes sense. Not being able to read humans (or other dogs for that matter) would naturally increase anxiety.

Many things that people do could be misinterpreted if dogs were to look at us as if humans were not human, but dogs. For example, many aggressive episodes seem to occur when we are reaching for a dog, petting them on the back or neck, stepping over them, pushing them off furniture, etc. Most normal dogs come to learn that these actions are not threatening because they read other signs to place these human actions into context. They get that smiling, although weird, is not bearing our teeth, and than lovingly looking into the dogs eyes, does not actually mean we are challenging them. At least, most of them do.

But, while some dogs will tolerate just about anything from another dog, many of those same normal, perfectly healthy dogs will not so easily accept those behaviors from another dog. A fight might not break out, but you might hear a growl, see a raised lip, or some other ritualized behavior letting the other dog know its not okay. In fact most of the offending dogs know what they are doing when they are doing it, and are testing the waters.

Interestingly, one of the most common protocols prescribed for aggressive dogs are those which provide a consistent and predictable set of guidelines in which to interact, similar to the “NILIF” (”Nothing in Life is Free”) program as it was originally developed by Dr. Victoria Voith or William ’s “Learn to Earn”. These programs are more about compliance and control rather than providing a consistent and predictable structure that clearly aims at reducing anxiety such as Dr. Karen Overall’s deferment protocols which may be more effective for behavior problems, however they still involving learned and rule based interactions.

In other words, while many people seem to view these treatment suggestions (and they are usually only one part of a full treatment program) as a means to control, they may really may be a tool to help those dogs who are socially challenged at the brain level. These programs not only help dogs to understand what they need to do, but it also provides them with a comprehensible communication channel, thereby reducing anxiety on a social level.

For those people struggling to understand why knowing or being told what to do would reduce anxiety, think about what its like to start a new job where the role of the job is not clear. You know you are supposed to do something, but your not quite sure what they are expecting, or exactly how to do it, but you know that your ability to keep the job depends on your being able to do a good job. Add to this, (just to make it fun) a volatile boss who thinks most of the world is full of idiots. It would help to have someone point you to your desk, tell you what you need to do, who to call, show you an example of something you are supposed to produce, do or say, etc.

But do fearful responses actually meant an “social cognition impairment”, or a merely a different way to survive? Dogs more likely to be tame, or less likely to be fearful or aggressive, may be also be more likely to take risks. What if the human intension was hunt dogs instead of co-existing with them? How much easier would it be to lure a dog in if they were less fearful of us, and less likely to turn on us. A more reactive dog that more likely to trust what he knows is more likely to stay safe in other circumstances.

But the current reality is, dogs defined as aggressive, or those who are unable to live with their owners without problems, are now less likely to survive. There is strong pressure a get rid of aggressive dogs, from our neighbours and families, and from our society in general that society is now trying to wipe out entire breeds, despite evidence telling us this won’t solve the problem of aggression. It doesn’t stop with pitbulls. All sorts of breeds are being banned all over the world (see 6 page list of breeds banned in Italy for example).

And while fearful or aggressive behavior certainly has has value in some circumstances, it entirely depends on the context. Social cognition is essential for survival. To quote from a paper of social cognition by Uta Frith and Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, ” For most animals, survival depends on their ability to identify the movements, eye gaze and social signals of other creatures, to distinguish whether they are prey, predators or mates and to predict their future actions.” (links to a pdf file)

We need our dogs to understand us, and understand the context of the situation we are in. If they are responding to our affection by snapping at us, it makes it hard to bond with them. If they respond aggressively to our friends and neighbours, it makes everyone’e lives difficult. We need to do something to improve the situation, if we can.

Traditionally, we have been taught to view dogs in the context of alpha or dominance theories. These theories have come out of observing a variety of species. The term “pecking order” has come from studying chickens hierarchies, in fact. Its simple, we can teach it to others and it can provide a frame work in which to operate and treat our dogs. At the same time we become more consistent with our dogs. But the theories that have been developed may not necessarily provide an accurate view of the whole picture.

But the more we learn, the more we start to understand “dominating” an aggressive dog is risky. Confront the dog, the dog confronts back. Maybe not at first, but often it seems as if the dog finally has enough. There can be a lot of finger pointing when things go wrong, the owner, the dog, the vet, the trainer, all who for the most part are really doing their best. But as we start to study the brain and body; how we work, how dogs work, we find the need to rethink some of our current assumptions.

Science is not all knowing. Some people have developed a mistrust of it because of the natural tendency to want to believe so whole heartedly. We want to believe: we want the easy and clear answers. But science only touches on fraction of what there is to know, and being human we don’t always come to the right conclusion.

But science has also opened many windows. Collectively, we know more than we used to and its often enough to challenge our preconceptions if we can let it. At a minimum, the more we learn, the more we can be encouraged to approach research and treatment at a holistic level.

Every year I cringe when it comes time for Firework celebrations. My dog hates it and it takes all the fun out of it when I know she is in the house shivering and miserable. But there is some indication that
dog-appeasing pheromone may be a possible treatment for firework phobia for some (but not all) dogs. The benefit of the pheromone is that it is general considered a very safe treatment.

Interestingly, in another study: double blind placebo controlled clinical trial determining response to a homeopathic remedy, both the homeopathic treatment group and the placebo treatment group showed improvement. Is it wishful thinking that the placebo group dogs actually improved, or are we as owners, thinking that we are helping our dogs, influencing our dogs’ fear?

Dogs pay attention to whether their owners are paying attention to them. Dogs stayed lying down most often or for the longest time when owners were watching them, ompared to when the ower was reading a book, watching TV, etc., Dogs will be more likely to beg from a person paying attention to them, as well as follow a command when their owners were looking at them.

Have you actually paid attention – do you know what paw preference your dog has, if any? Some studies suggest that female dogs might be more right-pawed on average, while males tend to be left-pawed, and some studies suggest preference might be flexible depending on the circumstances.

However, dogs without a significant paw preference were reported to be significantly more reactive to sounds than dogs who were clearly left or right-pawed.

Update: More on how to tell if your dog is left or right pawed:

• HOW TO ASSESS WHETHER YOUR IS LEFT- OR RIGHT-PAWED – (pdf file) a test that requires 100 trials and a lot of patience
• Paw choice an awakening for pooches

We all know that dogs’ behavior will reflect what they feel. Here is an interesting article that suggests the angle of a wag may be telling us something.

If you are interested in left-brain right-brain research, try the Grimace test. to see how what you do can affect how you feel.

And while your at it, this is a good one for the kids. Or a good one for the kid in us. Lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles. The take your right hand a draw the number “6″ in the air. Your foot just changed direction, and apparently there is nothing we can do about it.

We are in the process of finding out what people want to read about. Please feel free to add your comments!