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 īsurvivorsī. When humans raise puppies into dogs, they run into trouble. Why?
First of all, we donīt 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 dogīs 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.
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 īpuppy licenseī. They get to flutter their license about and say īNa-na-na, you canīt get to me - īd4cos I have a puppy license!ī 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.
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:
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, thereīs 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 īsix year oldī, 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 īsix year oldī 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 īcrazyī like the owners may be told, but their stress level is at a maximum and self-control level at a minimum. Naturally! Because, they havenīt learned how to deal with these types of situations before. Itīs 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 wasnīt already in a state of hysteria, he would be if we use force and unpleasantness. Itīs not our place to make our demands to the young dog too difficult. If the dog isnīt able to cope with a situation, then it simply isnīt 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 is the key word. The interference may be to:
The young dog is in a phase of transition, and thereīs 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. Itīs completely harmless. We need to have boundaries, but make sure that they are set in such a way that the dog isnīt 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 doesnīt 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. Donīt 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 īyellī, but no more than that.
Is your dog growling? Wonderful! That means that he hasnīt been scared into passivity and has kept a natural part of his way of communication. Growling isnīt dangerous, itīs simply a way to let others know that he is uncomfortable.
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:
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.
Turid Rugaas is an internationally renowned trainer and writer who has devoted her life to dogs, their behavior and their well-being.
The Norwegian dog trainer has worked with dogs for many years and studied the body language of dogs for more than a decade. After a project where Turid and a colleague observed dogs carefully, recording their behaviour on video and in photographs, she became well-known around the world for her work on the calming signals. And Turid Rugaas is now one of the world's leading experts on dog behavior.
In the critically acclaimed book On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals, she shares with us her insights on the fascinating world of communication between dogs, as well as dogs and their owners.
Turid lives and works in Norway where she owns and runs a dog training school, Hagen Hundeskole. Being a popular speaker, she is spending more time abroad than at home, speaking and presenting programs at conferences, seminars and workshops. Her web site is http://TuridRugaas.com