DR PAULINE TAYLOR of Pets Central answers readers’ questions on their furry friends. Here she answers questions on dog behaviour issues.
How to stop dogs barking and how to manage odd behaviour!
“My dog gets overly excited and rough when playing with other dogs. How do I make sure he stays safe?”
Playtime is such an important part of your dog’s existence. Rules of play are best learnt at a young age, during the critical socialisation period at under 18 weeks of age; lessons and rules picked up at this age last with your dog forever
Where dogs are deprived of play during this phase, they won’t master the correct manners when playing with other dogs. So, you’re correct to be concerned, as many dogs don’t welcome rough play and become defensive and/or aggressive. Choose his doggy playmates carefully, and keep him leashed until you’re sure things will be fine. You can also discuss your problem with a dog trainer.
“What do different dog barks mean?”
Dogs are non-verbal communicators – they send signals using a variety of things including posture, smell and sounds. The sounds we hear from a dog barking are normal and have been classified into several basic groups:
- Attention getting (for example, pups whimpering)
- Warning sounds (for example, territorial protection)
- Conflict/fear
- Pleasure/play
- Hunting/herding
- Learned/conditioned
- Medical reasons/pain
Differentiating your dog’s sounds isn’t always straightforward, so it can be tricky working out why they might be barking.
“Will my dog grow out of barking at every dog he sees?”
The simple answer is probably not, unless he is a pup and you are socialising and training him right now. If that’s the case, you have the perfect window to teach your pup to bark on cue – use the word “speak” to encourage him to bark at a trigger then reward him when you ask him to stop.
As we’ve seen in the previous answer, barking in dogs happens in a wide variety of situations, from attention seeking to anxiety. Dogs also bark to let you know that something has changed in the environment.
When it comes to barking at other dogs, a bark should always be analysed by its tone, intensity and shrillness; pay attention to your dog’s demeanour, body position and facial expression. Barking is a transfer of information from one dog to another; in your case, it’s important to work out the information your dog wants to send. It could be a learned behaviour that may not be easy to stop.
“When will our dog stop barking and howling at night?”
If excessive barking is your problem, there are a few things to consider. Age is important – young dogs bark for different reasons than seniors. Older dogs may show endless repetitive barking as part of ageing, disease or doggy Alzheimer’s.
History tells us that dogs first became human companions thousands of years ago, then quickly established themselves as watchdogs – guardians of human property, like sentries on guard duty. So, check out all possible reasons for why your dog may be barking at night, and if you can’t find a simple answer, talk to a veterinary behaviourist or your vet.
Dog training tips for pulling on the lead
My dog keeps pulling on the lead when we go for walks. How do I stop this?
Pulling on the lead is an unpleasant experience. It’s much easier to prevent this problem by training a young pup not to pull. Stopping pulling can still be achieved in an older dog. Your dog needs to learn that the reward of walking forward only happens with a loose dog lead. If your dog is pulling on the lead you must stop walking and wait for the dog to come back. These dog training walks will take time and patience – supplementing them with rewards when your dog comes back will hasten the dog training process. Head halters and harnesses fitted correctly can also be useful. They’re available at most vet clinics and pet stores but fit them properly so as not to cause damage – some apply pressure to body parts to restrict movement.
My dog has a tendency to roll in mud and poo. Why?
Nobody really knows – and that includes scientists and animal behaviourists! But most dog owners have a story about their lovely obedient friend finding a smelly dead fish or animal carcass and rubbing all over it like they’re “in heaven”. The dog usually does this before the pet parent even knows anything smelly is around!
Dogs have a much better sense of smell than humans. It’s reckoned that some breeds like bloodhounds and bassets – breeds whose noses we use to work for us – have around 500,000 to 600,000 times more cells than humans in their nasal passages that detect smells. Can you imagine what it’s like for a dog to walk along the beach and suddenly smell a delicious dead fish? It also appears that dogs do not like nice smells like we humans. It’s well documented how many dogs, given the chance after a nice bubble bath, will immediately roll in the nearest piece of sand or grass and get dirty again!
Wolves roll in earth and animal matter to disguise their own smell. This helps them in the hunt for prey, to get closer to it before they start the hunt for dinner. Dogs are 98 percent similar in genetic matter to wolves, their common ancestor, so rolling in mud and poo may well be an inherited behaviour that in modern dogs has not yet been bred out.
Recent brain research suggests that when we sleep our brains re-live our days, storing experiences in our memory bank. While dogs sleep in a different pattern from humans, there’s a lot to be said for this theory. Before I became a vet, I worked as a sheep midwife in Scotland. Every day, my border collies rolled in the afterbirth of a lambing ewe. My old wise friend and shepherd Jim told me then, decades ago and before modern brain research, that rolling in the disgusting smelly afterbirth was so my collie had nice dreams that night and would be fresh and ready to work in the morning! I think he may have been right!
About Dr Pauline Taylor (BVM&S MACVSc)
After graduating from Edinburgh University, Dr Taylor began practicing in Scotland, working with farm animals, and has accrued over 30 years of experience in caring for animals in various places including the UK, New Zealand and Hong Kong.
Pets Central operates multiple Animal Clinics and Hospitals in Hong Kong.
North Point Hospital | 2811 8907
Mong Kok Hospital | 2309 2139
Tseung Kwan O Hospital | 2244 6684
Sai Kung Hospital | 2792 0833
Park Island Mobile Clinic | 6223 0903
This article first appeared in Expat Living magazine. You can purchase the latest issue or subscribe so you never miss a copy!
