Dog Behaviour Advice - Dog Advice Articles

In the beginning, updates and Winston

Over 13000 years ago, it is the belief that early man began to domesticate the wolf. Whilst we believe the grey or timber wolf (Canis Lupus) is the ancestor of all our domestic dogs most scientist think it is more probable it was from a slightly smaller related species. This would means that all our dogs are simply wolves in many differing types of dogs clothing.

With specific requirement breeding, we may have genetically changed the wolf to appear like all the varieties that we currently have today but dogs are evolving parallel with the wolf. Cross breeding between the wolf and a dog is possible and even now in remote areas of the world, they are mating and so still producing new breeds. Both wolves and dogs not only share the same number of chromosomes, 76, they also share the same blueprint on how to survive. It is we have just do not allow them to learn the necessary skills to survive in their own social packs in the way the wolf does today. Dogs are only domesticated wolves.

Humans have manipulated dog breeding to produce so many dog variations specifically designed and ideally suited to differing tasks. If we were to allow dogs to breed freely, this will only produce an average and similar looking type of dog. In Romania there are still differing looking dogs but gradually if allowed to in time they will become to look more and more alike.

So, what did happen so long ago for our ancestors to come to domesticate the dog? Anyone who has tamed any wild animal or a bird knows that using food you are able to win over its trust and friendship. Such practise is now not advisable and for some, it is illegal. Many shelters will do their best to do nothing that will tame any animal. To do so would restrict the possibility to successfully return them back into the wild. The dog is just one example that proves this. It would take them many decades to acquire skills to hunt, work as a pack and to survive so like in Romania they find it is easier to live a life as a beggar and to stay near humans, as there is plenty of food available. We can see this in areas with black bears changing their way of live to moving into town to live off human rubbish sites.

Over 35 years ago, I use to hunt with my German shepherd Rolly and my two ferrets. This was my feeble attempt to keep my farming neighbours rabbit population under control. At the end of a mornings hunt, my two ferrets were so use to working with Rolly they use to cuddle up with him and sleep between his legs. We also had a local fox that as none of the farmers had any chickens no one ever hunted it. It would even come into our garden to see if our dogs had left any bones. As I worked my way round the field, I would prepare the rabbits for cooking by cleaning them in the field leaving the fox to clear up after me. At first the fox kept about a fields distance away from me but after a while it came as close as 40 meters. It would just sit there and wait for the easy pickings. I am certain that had I persevered it would have come closer and become less timid. Was this a re-enactment of what may have happened so long ago?

Wolves when hunting have about 10 to 20% success rate for a kill of large pray. They usually have a large pack to feed so hunting is an almost permanent occupation. They have learned to herd and move forward groups of animals like deer in order to identify those animals with a weakness. As they start to move the animals, the infirm animals in the group will fall to the back of the group. The wolves focus on these for a better chance of a kill.

Man was a far more skilful hunter and had a much better rate of success. Possibly, he too left the remnants he did not need to have to carry back to their camp and the wolves would scavenge this free meal. Would it not seem reasonable that a pack of wolves could then wish to attach itself to a human tribe because there was more chance of regular meals? If they stayed just out of range of the humans camp would they not also keep away other packs of wolves so they kept this easy food source all to themselves.

Early man might have seen this as an advantage as a method of protection from not just other wolves but also any other predator or other human groups. With such heightened senses wolves became mans first burglar alarm. As man domesticated other animals, tamed wolves would help to keep the other wild wolves from killing their new stock. They may have found that having wolves along with them on the hunts they could use their natural herding abilities to move pray in the directions they needed in order to obtain an even easier kill.

As the humans had the power of fire, wolves would gradually become less fearful of it. This would allow them to feel a greater security for themselves and allow them that more comfortable opportunity to sleep that deep sleep and dream as we see in our dogs today.

As wolves are naturally sociable animals and similarly early man lived in socialised groups, it was easy for them to accept socialisation within human groups. With their higher development of senses, they were also better adapted to help and protect. Once they became part of the human groups, wolves must have made faithful and loving companions in the same way as they still are today.

We do have a humanising fault that we accredit to the wolf and the fox the extraordinary skill of cunning. Such skill requires planning and as wolves and dog's sense and react, they cannot plan. We do tend to look at their activities and feel it is evident that wolves when they are herding are showing the ability to plan. If you look at such similar apparent planning actions, it is possible to show that this is only a series of learned responses. They can solve problems but it follows a system of test to see what happens. You will though see different dogs reacting with different responses it just depend how their brain assesses their initial experience to the problem. One dog may run away from an experience whilst another will investigate.

There are many stories of foxes, for instance, deviously making the pursuing dogs following them over train tracks, frozen rivers and major roads in order to lead them to their deaths. It is more likely that this was just chance. The famous story where almost a whole hunting pack died in a frozen river was simply the ice could take the weight of a fox but not the combined weight of the following pack. Which story do we tend or prefer to remember?

There were so many advantages for both early man and the wolf it was obviously a good idea to tame them probably using food. What started so long ago gave us all the dogs we have today. The only difference is that man has advance so much mentally yet the dogs though now all shapes and sizes have change little in the way they think and react in order to survive.

For us to understand our dogs we must resist the temptation to humanise our pets thinking they think the same way we do. They do not, but in saying that it does not detract from the fact, that dogs show amazing amounts of affection to humans and towards other animals. If our dogs do not react the way we think they should we should just look to question what benefit is the dog receiving. When we see a dogs unwanted actions we sometimes read far more into the problem when there is in fact a very simply reason. If a dog chases its tail, it is usually just board. Because it finds this fun, it receives a chemical reward so the dog ends up with habit that owners think the dog has some mental problem that is impossible to stop.

Updates

I have taken a smaller version of the Aboistop to the owners of the TV dog as its companion barks incessantly at children. This was making it almost impossible to teach the dog to stop barking at the animals on the television. Once the smaller dogs stops barking and it learns to live with children then the owners can restart the training of the TV dog. It does not bark at the TV at the moment but only when it knows it is wearing the collar or it is on the table. It is important to use the collar to train to a stop command with lots of praise as a reward other wise the dog will only end up needing the collar for many years. That is why I just like to rent them not sell them.

Winston

He was a little unhappy this week. I had brought home a shelter dog to make an aggression assessment and to give it a little freedom and fun. It had shown some aggression and was showing what maybe some dominancy traits by urinating in front of me and even on me. The question was did it simply feel cornered.

Once at home the dog immediately showed submission to Winston and they played and played until the early hours. As this dog is not neutered, the aggression could have been dominancy and testosterone generated with the possibility a need for castration. Using Winston I have the opportunity to see the dogs real character and even though Winston is neutered this dog which is younger that Winston showed submission towards him and he happily played as the under dog. Some times you will see an older dog allow a younger dog to appear to dominate but this is just part of learning play. From their interaction I very much doubt that dominancy is a problem and castration is unnecessary. In the UK, all shelters neuter dogs as a matter of course but then they have far more money than the shelters here in Spain.

The dogs played from 6pm to about 3am and all the next day. At midnight, I just went to bed and closed the door. As I was going to Torrevieja, the next day he had to go back to the shelter and Winston looked very glum, as his newfound friend had gone. I will get him back again on Thursday. Even when I left the dog at the shelter, he was jumping up and barking at me not to leave him. It certainly came out of its shell and now comes up to me to lay his head on my lap asking of a cuddle.

This dog does have a common problem. Its heelwork is appalling and is as walking behind a carthorse determined on going home. Whilst walking it also urinates ever ten paces or so. Many people say it is fine to tell people how to practice heelwork but how do you retrain a dog that is already a heavy-duty puller. Next week, I will write how I retrain this dog to walk by my side together with some socialisation training.

Top