The Centre for Applied Canine Behaviour
 phone: (613) 591 - 3277 
e-mail: carolark@igs.net 
 

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Carolark
600 Eagleson Road
Kanata, Ontario
K2M 1H4 
 

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Last month I went to Mississauga to hear Ian Dunbar speak. He has always been a favorite of mine. When I brought Hogan home 7 years ago, I furiously began trying to learn everything I could to tame this beast. Ian's books I have always found interesting and especially his positive methods used for training dogs to do what you want them to do. I totally advocate the hands off method of training. Let the dog figure out what you want him to do and he will learn it faster and offer it more often. There is no need nowadays to hit, push, scream or jerk the leash etc., etc., etc. We would never physically abuse a child when he/she did not do as we ask, but why do we do it to our dogs. They have less of an advantage when learning from us because English is not their primary way of communicating. Sure we can eventually teach them the words but essentially they will always be relying on our body language. Once we realize that it makes teaching our dogs anything that much easier and less stressful for you and the dog.

The one aspect I found particularly interesting was his talk on fighting and biting. Why do dogs fight??? The answer is very easy, do you like everyone you meet? Why do we expect our dogs to enjoy the company of every dog he meets? The reality is, they do not, just like we do not. A dogfight is usually a lot of noise more than anything else, if we really think about it is the noise that really freaks most people out. Most times it is just a mild squabble in order to put an unruly dog back in to his place. The real question you as dog owners must ask yourselves when your dog gets into a fight is: What was the outcome? How many fights has your dog had and how many times has the other dog been sent to the vet: Here is Hogan's analysis. Approximately 20 full contact fights: 1 trip to the vet for a tiny puncture on the ear. Sure it sounds awful to most people to think one dog has been in 20 full contact fights, but 1 ear puncture is very minute damage when you stop to think about it. Hogan is a fast strong dog and quite capable of inflicting much worse damage if he wanted to, but he chooses not to. The key here is BITE INHIBITION, if your dog does not have it, you do not have a safe dog.

Now to the second problem, biting. Why do dogs bite???? Well mainly because they cannot punch or hit. They have teeth for this purpose and that is why they bite. The question is how hard do they bite? Again we must rely on the amount of bite inhibition your dog has. Is your dog a repeat offender if so how much damage was done? Bites are rated according to the severity of the damage done.

1. Did the bite merely cause you to wet your pants?
2. There was tooth contact but no pressure was used
3. 1-3 punctures in a single bite, none deeper than 1/2 the length of the canine tooth
4. 1-4 punctures, with at least 1 puncture deeper than 1/2 length of canine tooth as well as tears in both directions. Means the dog grabbed and shook.
5. Multiple level 4 bites
6. Death

Pretty heavy stuff huh. Lots of things to think about now. What do we do with these fighting/biting dogs? Classical conditioning is the easiest way to improve this. Make the dogs want to be friendly and stop reinforcing the negative behaviour. We all do it. If we see a dog coming and we know how our dog is going to react, we get tense, the leash becomes tense and all that negative energy is feeding its way right to the dog. Key here stay calm and cool, make the dog less stressed about the situation by calmly praising the dog before it reacts as the dog/person is approaching, and act accordingly (quick and sharp) when the dog is not behaving itself. Then back to praising and treating when the dog is calmed down again. The second thing is obedience train these dogs so that if a problem arises simply instructing the dog to sit will solve the problem at hand. Dogs cannot sit and fight at the same time.

Well I hope I have not bored you too much. Being an owner of a dog who thinks he is the toughest dog on the planet is not easy, I know because I have one. The past 7 years of being Hogan's "mom" has taught me a lot about the behaviour of dogs and why they do things (and it is not to get back at us for something). When we take on the responsibility of owning a dog we take on the responsibility that the dog will be safe around people and other dogs, it is the least we can do to make their lives happier as well as our own. Hogan has been a challenge in many aspects, we have come a long way together He has earned his ADC (Agility Dog of Canada title), AADC (Advanced Agility Dog of Canada title), CGC (Canine Good Citizen) and has been invited to participate in various demonstrations including a calming signal one where he acted appropriately and friendly with the other dogs present. I found my best friend at the Humane society where someone gave up on him at 8 weeks of age because he bit them, I promise him that no matter what I will never give up on him.
November 2001

Hogan with his Friend

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