DOG TRAINING AND BEHAVIOR

Eunice Davis of Norwalk, Connecticut, is concerned about her 8-year-old dog, Shadow. When other dogs come to visit, she says, the first thing he does is try to hump them. She is confused because he is neutered and wonders if its a dominance thing since it doesnt matter if the visiting dog is male or female. How can I change this behavior? she wants to know.

In her excellent book, Barking: The Sound of a Language (Dogwise Publishing), Norwegian trainer Turid Rugaas points out that people often think dogs bark as an act of aggression or to prove their dominance, or simply to annoy people. But while barking most certainly can get on peoples nerves, dogs dont bark to strut their stuff or exhibit swagger. Like us, they vocalize to express something - a warning, an emotion, a desire, happiness even.

Often its a puppy whos overly insecure around her owners, but it can happen with adult dogs, too. The pet will scrape and bow and prostate herself on the floor to show shes the lowly one and doesnt mean any trouble. Such behavior is problematic in its own right, of course, but what can have consequences beyond emotional ones is submissive urination, say, when you come through the door at the end of the day.

We have devoted no small amount of space in Your Dog to teaching people how to rein in an aggressive dog, and for good reason. Aggression is the most common behavioral problem we see, and also the most dangerous. One wrong move by an overly aggressive dog, and someone, or some dog, could get hurt — or worse. It doesn't matter whether the aggression is territorial or comes about because a dog is in pain, or even is born of fear. A dog bite (or bites) can be very serious.

In the case of Ms. Cheney, her five-year-old basset hound, Otis, has begun balking about going outside. When she and her husband first adopted him about a year ago, she says, he walked very well. He is energetic and healthy. But now, loud noises agitate him to the point of refusing to go out at all, she says. Many times we can coax him out, but only briefly and just to take care of business. She is worried not just about Otis relieving himself but also about his getting the proper exercise and, at least as important, helping him relax and enjoy his walks again.

The kind of anxiety that finally triggers a change in many a dogs behavior is separation anxiety. It often occurs when the children go back to school or after Christmas break, Dr. Borns-Weil says. Having everyone around and then being left alone again puts the dog over the top. He starts acting out rather than just acting anxious or depressed.

Vicki Hale of Georgetown, California, is concerned. Her seven-month-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Kingsley, has been "a very happy dog up to now" but has "started to be a little shy and has also started growling at people he does not know," she explains.

"I am not sure how to handle this," Ms. Hale says. "Is he starting to be a little protector?" She adds that he has not been neutered yet and that she would like to breed him two or three times before he is, implying that maybe his being intact is what's making him aggressive. "What can I do about the growling?" she asks.

You bring home your brand new puppy somewhere between the ages of 8 and 10 weeks. She has already had her first set of vaccinations, but she has at least two more rounds to go, possibly three, depending on her breed and other circumstances, such as where you live and what pathogens might be in the environment.

My dog is vindictive, clients tell Stephanie Borns-Weil, DVM, who heads the Tufts Animal Behavior Clinic. Every time I go out, he [pick one] pees on the floor; trashes the house; overturns the garbage can. This assumes that dogs plot to get back at you, she says, causing destruction or eliminating in the house because theyre angry that you left and seek revenge. Its a major misunderstanding."

We deal with aggression in the clinic every single day and have for the last 30 years, says Nicholas Dodman, BVMS, DACVA, DACVB, a world-renowned animal behaviorist. It is the number one behavior problem across the board. Fully 70 percent of the cases that come into the Tufts Animal Behavior Clinic are about aggression. …

More than 50 years ago, researcher K. E. (Kenneth Evan) Moyer laid out what he called seven types of aggression, which veterinary behaviorists say apply to dogs as well as people. Animal behaviorist Nicholas Dodman, BVMS, would add an eighth, described here as the last item on the list. All types of aggression in dogs require strong, loving leadership so that the pet can feel safe in learning a new way to cope in the world.…

The instructional tools of basic obedience (lavish praise, food treats, collars of various types, leashes, and so on) are means to an end - verbal control over your dog. Almost all techniques incorporate operant conditioning, where the dog's correct response to a command (the stimulus) results in a reward (the reinforcement). This reward increases the probability that the dog will behave the same way next time. Without constant reinforcement, dogs gradually "forget" learned behaviors. …