The Dog Screamer

When I wrote to AWARE to tell them I would like to come volunteer for a few weeks, I informed them that I have experience and enjoy rehabilitating problem dogs, including overly timid or aggressiveones. I’m no expert, but I have employed the methods I have learned from watching Cesar Millan on the National Geeographic Channel’s The Dog Whisperer to great effect. Cesar adopts the approach whereby we need to think more like a dog instead of trying to teach a dog to think like a person. He teaches people how being a calm, assertive leader will bring about a calm, submissive dog—not submissive in the fearful sense, but more in that the dog will happily relinquish his or her perceived leadership role to their new leader and thereby shed the unwanted behaviours that had come about from their (usually reluctant) belief that they should be in charge.

A dog needs a leader. In dog packs, there are two basic strata: the two alphas, and everyone else. If a pack loses its leader, one of the dogs will immediately assume the position for the sake of the pack’s coherence and safety. When the human members of the dog’s pack show no leadership qualities in the dogs own language, the dog must take the responsibility on him- or herself, and that almost always leads to problems, for a dog doesn’t know how to lead in a human world.

How do we show a dog we are the leader and he or she is the follower? There are five basic rules: a pack leader goes through doors first, he leads the walk, he doesn’t respond to demands for his attention whenever the pack is reunited, he eats first, and he ignores unwanted behavio

ur and is careful to reward desired behaviour. Cesar also teaches the importance of giving clear, consistent rules, boundaries, and limitations to a dog, and of giving the dog exercise, education, and reward, in that order.

I've gone to people's homes to teach them how to employ these methods with their own dog, and always the reaction is incredulity when I show them how well behaved and easily accepting of new leadership a dog can be. “That’s not my dog! What have you done with my dog?” is the usual response when owners see how well their dog can walk on a leash, how he can allow himself to be touched again, how nicely he sits before feeding, how calm he becomes, and how much happier he is after shedding his leadership role.

Using these techniques, I’ve helped dogs become less timid, less aggressive, less boisterous, more accepting of strange circumstances, and far better behaved. The methods are sim

ple, but many people have trouble adopting them because it goes against what they feel they should do when faced with a problem dog. With a scared dog, for instance, we mustn’t comfort them, as that will only reward the fear while demonstrating the lack of leadership at a time when she needs to feel protected; instead, we show calm assertiveness to the dog, not allowing her to back away from what scares her, making her sit or stand confidently, and demonstrating that we will lead her through the experience to minimize her stress.

At AWARE, I’ve already been busy showing Naomi how to control scared and aggressive dogs while they’re being examined; I’ve shown that so-called ferocious dogs will accept a calm, assertive guest entering their cage and sitting beside them (see pics of Dickens and me, above); and I’ve taken dogs for a walk who had previously been too scared to go outside or reluctant to accept a leash. It’s been extremely rewarding.

But it hasn’t all been successful: Xenii got a call from a family whose Labrador retriever, Kaful, had bitten three times and who was getting increasingly aggressive, so she suggested bringing him over for me to try to fix. It was going well: I took Kaful’s leash and started to 

lead him on a walk. But he suddenly pulled out of the collar, and when I tried to put it back on him, he went for me. I’ve had dogs try to bite me before (and several succeeded), but this was the first time I was actually attacked so full on. Kaful jumped at me and tried to bite my arm and leg, and I made the mistake of backing off, giving him the perception that his aggression was now in charge.

I went to Kaful again and this time stood my ground as he snapped at me, and he backed off. I kept entering his space and he kept backing off, but every time we tried to get his collar back on, he protested viciously.

The family decided to put Kaful back in the car, and I asked them to bring him back the next day so that I could work with him again. Xenii called them later and left a message that I had agreed to have Kaful come live with me for a week so that I could have plenty of opportunity to fix his unwanted aggression, but so far we’ve not heard back from them. I’m worried that they may have taken a more terminal approach to Kaful’s aggression. If Kaful comes here soon, I’ll happily stay a few extra days to work with him; I really don’t want this one to slip through because of my mistake.