Separation Anxiety and being the Pack Leader

George suffers from Separation Anxiety, which is very common in dogs that have been rescued. We never really had a full account of his history but it’s quite obvious that he has been loved and not mistreated. He is very loving towards everyone. He was also very clingy, to the point of following you everywhere, (including the toilet) which, is also a behaviour of newly adopted dogs. Dogs being pack animals, need to know who is leading the pack, so he may have been following us to ascertain how much control we have on our lives, and whether he needs to take charge. Newly rescued dogs can be quite anxious about leadership during their transition and I guess it’s a perfectly natural behaviour in the wild, with the addition of challenging the new pack to become the top dog.

Right from the start, once we’d taught the sit/stay command, we controlled when he ate. We make him wait for the command to ‘take it’. I was watching some lions recently, the male had eaten, he’d allowed two of the females to have some carcass but the younger members of the pride where waiting until he allowed them to eat. There were a few challenges and despite not eating anymore himself, he refused to allow the younger lions near the carcass.

Where meal times are at similar times, George has to wait until we’ve eaten and then he has his. Even if he has something from our plate, it is fed to him from his bowl. He is very intelligent and feeding from our plate may give him a mixed message.

We recently started to make him wait for us to go in and out of the front door first, showing our leadership of physically leading the way.

If he walks too far in front on a walk, we hide. This great tip from his obedience instructor was to teach him to pay attention to us and keep an eye on us at all times. However, we also use it when we feel he thinks he’s up there leading the pack. I have noticed that he circles when running about now.

He is only allowed on the sofa if we say it’s okay. One evening, not long after we had him, he jumped into Edwood’s seat when he got up. Upon return, Edwood was going to sit in another seat, until the I the Beta female pointed out that George’s behaviour could be a gentle challenge of leadership. My other Rotties did similar things during their transition into the pack to ascertain their position. I remember having to stand up tall to Scooby on one occassion as she refused a command, standing up and commanding her physically made me higher in the pack.

When we come in the house, we greet each other first and then fuss over George. If he jumps up, we put his legs down, with the odd exception of pure lovingness. Sometimes you can see he is being soppy, however, we do guide him back down to his place and fuss him there, where he generally becomes submissive and has a belly rub.

I spent a week at home to give George some intense training in the home. I commanded him to stay everytime I went upstairs, doing small steps and returning as soon as I’d got to the top, rewarding him on my return. He now knows if I’m visiting the bathroom and waits at the bottom of the stairs. If I’m quiet and sitting in an upstairs room, he comes up after a while, which is fine.

George plays when we say it’s okay, if we’re busy, he can wait for a bit.

George has a bedroom under the stairs, once he’d settled more, I started to open the stairgate quietly before bedtime. He can come up to join the pack leaders in the morning, or at some point when we’re asleep. This has taught him to have some independance and doesn’t exclude him from the pack totally.

Leaving him alone when he’s resting also gives him a message that we’re not relying on him for something and gives him independance. (very hard sometimes when he’s looking cute)

I’m a big fan of ‘no eye contact’ when training a dog and when it’s done something wrong. They look to you for leadership, so avoiding eye contact show’s you know what you’re doing (especailly when leaving the house, he can’t misread my message and think I need him with me or when I enter, think I’ve been unable to manage without him). If a dog has done something wrong, the best way to demonstrate it  after been told naughty, is to avoid eye contact, it really allows them to associate the wrong behaviour and they will keep looking to regain when they perform their next behaviour.

These few little rituals have all helped George and I’ve noticed recently that, he comes and licks our arm in acknowledgment of our leadership and pays more attention to us when he’s off his lead, to the point of sometimes leaving sniffing to walk with us and not in front.

As for leaving him, our own routine’s have changed temporarily, so we haven’t had any time to be consistent, other than the consistency of going to work with Edwood. However, George is quite happy to stay in the studio for short periods of time or in the car if the weather permits.

Recall

To teach George the command ‘Come’ we sat him down, took one step back and said ‘come’ in an encouraging voice, treat in hand. As soon as he came for the treat, we clicked the clicker and gave the treat. Each time we performed the command with George we increased the distance slightly. When on the extendable lead outside, particularly walking in the woods, we call his name to get his attention and then do a recall to keep him checked in with us.

Set your dog up to succeed, they learn faster. Don’t make goals unachievable.

Clicker Training

We’re using a clicker with George. The basic principle is that he’ll associate the click with desirable behaviour, followed by a treat. He’s learnt that when he hears the click, a treat follows to reinforce that he is behaving correctly. Sometimes a dog does something good but the treat can take a while to get out of your pocket, by this time the behaviour can change and the dog will be confused. The clicker gives you a few moments to get the treat.

I noticed today, one week into training, that on a few occasions, when engrossed in enjoyment from his walk, he hears the click, gives eye contact and carries on walking. I think he’s getting really confident. We worked as a team today, George performed, I clicked and Edwood hearing the click, took the treat from the hip bag to give to George, who wasn’t confused, he knew who had the goodies.

Always give a treat when clicking or you’ll lose your dog’s interest. Clicker’s come with an informative leaflet, read it thoroughly before using.

 

New Name

To teach George his new name we got a treat, showed it to him and then put it up to our eye saying his name. As soon as he made eye contact with us we gave it to him. As he begins to learn his name he also learns that he needs to make eye contact and engage with the next command. As he became familiar with this, we replaced the treat with reassuring him he is a good boy, telling him he’s good and giving him a fuss. Like most dogs, George likes to know he is good and he gets lots of contact & fuss when he displays correct behaviour.

George has done well in a short time of less than a week, especially as he has been working intensely to learn some good basic behaviour training so that he knows what is expected of him. As of yet however, he is quite aloof when walking and chooses not to respond to his name very often when on a walk. This is fine right now, maybe we’ll find something more tasty than sausage to lure him. He is walking to heel quite well so he is nearby to get reassurance and hear commands. 

It is really important not to try and teach a new dog too much at once, don’t set them up to fail, they love it when they get it right and it really builds a positive respectful bond with you.