OT Article - Dogs; About Growing Up

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The Puppy and the Young Dog - About Growing Up by Turid Rugaas

Dogs who raise puppies, raise their offspring

into perfect dogs. Wolves who raise wolf puppies,

raise them into perfect wolves who are prepared

for a life as ´survivors´. When humans raise

puppies into dogs, they run into trouble. Why?

First of all, we don´t allow the puppies to get

the natural upbringing that they would and ought

to receive had they been brought up by other

dogs. Secondly, we expect the dog to respect our

human rules, which are often meaningless to the

dog, and we fail to take into consideration the

dog´s age, developmental stages and its capacity.

The result is that the dog fails to meet our too

high demands.

Puppies who grow up surrounded by their own kind,

gradually learn to obtain the self-control they

will need as adults. And they learn so well! As

adults they have obtained all the self-control

necessary to survive. We need to learn to raise

puppies in a similar way that they would be if

they were raised naturally by other dogs from

birth to adulthood.

Puppy license

The first and major mistake we do as puppy

owners, is to set our expectations and demands to

the puppy so high that there is no way the puppy

will be able to meet them. In nature and where

the dogs are allowed to grow up naturally in a

pack, they learn self-control very gradually.

Until they are about 16-20 weeks old, they have a

so-called ´puppy license´. They get to flutter

their license about and say ´Na-na-na, you can´t

get to me - ´d4cos I have a puppy license!´ We

often see how the puppies are taking advantage of

this license. They bully the adult dogs around,

and we can almost see that mischievous sparkle in

their eyes.The adult dogs let the puppies carry

on with unbelievable patience during this period

of time.

By 16-20 weeks of age, the puppy license is about

to expire. Now, the puppies gradually need to

learn to control themselves better and behave

more politely. They will still be forgiven for

their many mistakes and errors - after all, they

are not yet adults. Adulthood will come naturally

with time and experience.

It may seem confusing that a puppy move from one

developmental stage to another within only a few

days, but we need to keep in mind that they go

from puppyhood to adulthood in less than two

years. In comparison, humans use 20 years before

we can call ourselves adults - many need even

more time than that.

The young dog

Once the puppy period passes at around 4 to 4.5

months of age, the adolescence begins. It

consists of several stages and lasts up to around

two years of age. Sometimes it takes more time,

other time less. Young dogs are like young humans:

* They like action and speed.

* They get easily bored when nothing is happening.

* They have no self-control at all.

* They cannot control themselves when

something exciting happens. Like kids who see a

firetruck or dogs who smell a rabbit.

* Their ability to concentrate over any

longer period of time is poor. While kids

´forget´ to come right home after school, the dog

forgets what you asked him to do ten seconds

earlier. They prefer to be with others the same

age or with similar interests.

* They will rather play that do other things.

* They find cramming boring and it takes

the fun out of learning. Young dogs need

training, but in short and fun sessions so that

they are able to stay focused and not get tired

of it. Their needs of activities can be met with

short and easy training sessions on an simple

agility course, recall training, taking walks in

the woods, being with other dogs and play off

leash, and so on.

* They gradually need to learn

self-control, but only little at a time. That´s

why we do things stepwise, like expecting the dog

to remain gradually longer in exercises like

´sit-stay´ - 2 seconds, 5 seconds, 10 seconds,

etc.

* Be considerate when the dog is loosing

his concentration - allow the dog to get a break

in order to get his focus back, help him to

continue the training.

* Let the adolescent dog meet with other dogs - Important!

* Avoid long training sessions, repeating

the same exercise over and over, punishment, and

so on, so that the dog doesn´t get tired and fed

up with training.

* Socialization - Social training with

people and animals is important. Teach the dog to

deal with all kinds of situations in all kinds of

environments.

* Practice fun activities like tricks,

retrieving, searching, tracking, etc.

We must keep in mind that dogs are social beings

who need to learn about communication, polite

behavior and self-control. Otherwise a life as a

member of a pack will become completely

unbearable. And they learn, little by little,

just like human beings during childhood and

adolescence. Who have ever seen a 4 or 6 year old

child with self-control? When the four year old

gets hysterical, there´s no point in even trying

to reason with him or her. The same goes for the

six year old child. To try and teach them

something during a hysterical fit, is hopeless.

We actually need to let them calm down first -

before trying to teach them something.

When dog owners come to class with a young dog, a

´six year old´, this dog will easily become too

excited - due new dogs, a new place, a new

situation, and so on. At the same time, the class

require that the dog and owner follow a strict

program of exercises, and in a addition the

program lasts way too long for a young dog. No

wonder that the ´six year old´ will become

agitated and even hysterical. Many, many dog

owners drop out of these classes and courses

because their dogs are impulsive, excited and

almost hysterical. They are not ´crazy´ like the

owners may be told, but their stress level is at

a maximum and self-control level at a minimum.

Naturally! Because, they haven´t learned how to

deal with these types of situations before. It´s

doomed to fail.

Use of violence or force to get the dog to pay

attention in such a situation is unlikely to make

the dog any better. On the contrary, if the dog

wasn´t already in a state of hysteria, he would

be if we use force and unpleasantness. It´s not

our place to make our demands to the young dog

too difficult. If the dog isn´t able to cope with

a situation, then it simply isn´t able to cope

with it. We can prevent the dog from becoming

hysterical by learning to observe him and his

emotional state, to learn to see that the

temperature is rising and stop what we are doing

before the dog has reached the level of stress

and excitement where he is unable to communicate

and learn.

Early interference

Early interference is the key word. The interference may be to:

* Stop the training.

* Act less threatening ourselves.

* Let the dog change his position from for

instance lying down or standing to the non-active

position of sitting.

* Keep the leash loose - it needs to be so

loose that it´s hanging, otherwise the dog will

feel the pressure of the leash. Remember that a

tight leash is the quickest way to raise the

level of aggression.

* Don´t fight the dog. Remain calm and

under self-control - How will the dog learn

self-control if you don´t set a good example?

When the dog is " slamming the doors "

The young dog is in a phase of transition, and

there´s a lot that needs to be explored and

tested. Allow the dog to explore. Allow him to

get a taste of life and allow him to check things

out. It´s completely harmless. We need to have

boundaries, but make sure that they are set in

such a way that the dog isn´t a prisoner without

freedom to be active and figure things out on his

own. Should he become difficult, so-called

stubborn or testy, it is not because he has

planned to take over the leadership or become

top-dog, but rather to explore and find out how

things work. A young dog will not become leader,

he doesn´t even think about it. But he needs to

check things out in order to see the types of

reactions he will get if he ever thinks about it

later. Don´t overreact! Turning your back to the

dog and ignoring him is sufficient - and will say

more than a thousand words. Turning the back and

ignoring the adolescence is exactly what the

adult dog would do.

Under no circumstances should you get physical

with the dog - avoid physical unpleasantness such

as shaking him by the scruff of his neck,

grabbing him by the cheeks while looking into his

eyes, or any other cruel and frightening methods

of punishment. Notice how the confident, adult

dogs do it, and copy what they are doing. Adult

dogs let the adolescent dog know without seeming

brutal - they turn their backs and walk away.

They may ´yell´, but no more than that.

Is your dog growling? Wonderful! That means that

he hasn´t been scared into passivity and has kept

a natural part of his way of communication.

Growling isn´t dangerous, it´s simply a way to

let others know that he is uncomfortable.

When growling/snarling/snapping

1. Was it something you did that provoked the

dog? If so, stop provoking. Provocations can be,

to mention a few; to jerk the leash, yelling and

scolding, grabbing the dog by the scruff of his

neck, shoving the dog, pinching the dog, taking

the food from the dog, disturbing the dog in his

sleep or when he´s resting, giving commands with

an angry voice, demanding too much of the dog,

holding the dog tightly, pulling on the leash,

teasing the dog, bending over him and walking

straight at a dog who´s on a leash.

2. Was the dog frightened by something? Then

avoid that he gets frightened again, otherwise

his defense reaction will only become stronger

and stronger.

3. Is he only doing it to check out your

reaction? Turn your back to him! He will give up

immediately. In a situation like this, at least

one of you need to stay cool. Besides, it´s a

given that most conflicts between dogs and owners

is a result of trying to dominate the dog, not

the other way around. Using ´sit´ is

psychologically correct when conflict situations

occur. It´s a neutral position - it´s asking for

cooperation rather than submission. And to sit

will come more naturally than anything else, even

for an agitated dog.

In order for a young dog to learn self-control,

he needs to go through a learning process. We can

help him by making a few demands to ourselves:

1. The dog doesn´t know which options he has. We

need to teach the dog that he can choose to sit

calmly instead of jumping, running around and

pulling on the leash. Due to the situation, the

adrenaline level in the body is high, and it

makes the dog uncomfortable at the same time as

he doesn´t know what to do about it. We can show

the dog and help him learn to control the

situation.

2. Move slowly. Use calm and slow body motions.

Speak calmly and quietly. Your body language and

behavior will convince the dog.

3. Don´t get self-control and physical force

mixed up. Self-control is voluntary, while

physical force isn´´. Avoid shoving, forcing,

pulling and pushing the dog. Keep the leash

loose. The reaction to physical punishment will

only be an increased stress level. 4. Practice

self-control in all situations. At first,

practice in areas free of distractions, in short

sessions and loose leash. Don´t have the dog sit

too long in the beginning - the muscles will get

tired and sore from sitting too long.

We have other means of aid as well, such as the

calming signals and rewarding the dog for the

right behavior, only to mention a few. One day,

you will have an adult dog who knows how to

behave, who has self-control and who wishes to

cooperate. That day will come if you raise your

dog with gradually increased demands that he is

able to deal with. Be considerate - your dog

needs time to grow up just as we do.