What to do if your dog growls or snaps

by Jolanta Benal

Many of us have had that uh-oh moment when our dog suddenly doesn’t look so friendly. My beloved dog Izzy once growled at me when I came up behind her while she was working on a pig ear. Maybe your dog has growled or snapped while having her nails trimmed, or when startled, or when being petted by a child. At these moments we may feel frightened, even betrayed. It’s hard to know what to do. Today I’ll talk about canine warnings and how we humans can respond to them productively.

“Aggressive” Isn’t the Same as “Bad”

As usual, unexamined ideas floating in the ether have a way of getting dogs and their people in trouble, and of making trouble worse when it does arise. The ether is chock full of unexamined ideas about aggression. Among the most pernicious is the notion that there are good dogs, and then there are aggressive dogs. As a corollary, every dog is one or the other, and the two categories never overlap.

In fact, normal dogs have a huge vocabulary of aggressive behaviors. I started this episode by mentioning growls and snaps, but humans often miss many more subtle clues to canine tension. A brief overall body stillness is one; pushing the corners of the lips forward is another. The vocabulary of aggression ranges from the quickest hard glance up to all-out attack.

A Normal Dog Delivers Several Warnings

My dog Izzy, the one who growled at me over a pig ear, once delivered a beautiful lesson in how to escalate. We were at the dog park, and a bouncy boy dog just wouldn’t stop humping her. I was so flabbergasted by his obliviousness to her signals that I didn’t intervene. The first time he got on Izzy’s back, she walked out from under him -- the equivalent of “Nah, I’m not into that.” He came back for seconds. She whipped her head around at him -- a low-key warning. Third time: She whipped her head around and curled her lip. Fourth time: Izzy whipped her head around and snapped. The fifth time Mr. Humpy got on her back, Izzy threw herself into the air with a roar and drove him off, snapping and snarling. Nobody got hurt. “Wow,” said Mr. Humpy’s guardian. “Your dog sure is aggressive.”

Aggression and Behavioral Health

Roughly speaking, the more behaviorally healthy a dog is, the more relaxed that dog is in different kinds of circumstances, and the less likely to aggress. Also, a behaviorally healthy dog delivers warnings stepwise, starting with the gentlest and proceeding-- if mild warnings go unheeded--to something more Technicolor and surround sound. Usually, matters stop short of bloodshed. That’s what happened with Izzy and her humper.

Why a Confrontational Response May Do More Harm Than Good

So behaviorally healthy dogs take most of life in stride, and they deliver warnings when they’re pushed. Those two facts together help explain why it’s best to respond without confrontation to a dog’s growl or snap. First, underlying almost all aggression is stress -- whether that’s a huge stressor in the moment or an accumulation of small stressors over an hour or a day. Bear in mind that this is stress from the dog’s point of view, and that many dogs aren’t in perfect behavioral health. No matter how much you enjoy the toddler next door, if your dog growls at her you can take it as a given that he finds something about her presence distressful.

If you punish your dog for growling or snapping, you’ve essentially punished him for warning you that he’s close to the limit of what he can stand.

Second, if you punish your dog for growling or snapping, you’ve essentially punished him for warning you that he’s close to the limit of what he can stand. If your punishment is perfectly calibrated, he may never growl or snap again. Now that cute toddler can pet your dog on the head and he’ll hold still. But he’s not feeling okay about it. What happens when the little kid, who doesn’t know any better, pulls the dog’s tail or sticks a finger in his ear or runs up to him when he’s eating dinner? You, the child, and your dog may well get lucky and go the dog’s whole life without finding out. But I’d rather not leave everybody’s safety to luck.

Instead of Punishing, Back Off and Think!

An outright dog attack is an emergency, of course. You must do whatever it takes to protect yourself or others. But if your dog growls or snaps, or if you’ve caught one of those more subtle warning signs I mentioned earlier, your best bet is to back off. Exit the situation. Take a deep breath or 50, enough for you and your dog both to settle down. And then think. What, exactly, were the circumstances around the behavior? And can you identify any new or old stressors in your dog’s life? You and your dog need professional help, and the best thing you can do right now is to gather information.

Some Possible Triggers of Aggression

Many dogs guard their food bowls, resting places, or favorite toys. Many are on edge around big, assertive men or erratically moving children. Did your dog get beaten up at the dog park that morning, then have to go to the vet, and did you just step on his foot while he was asleep? Did some ignorant trainer tell you to jerk on your dog’s leash when he lunged at another dog on the street? Is your dog old and arthritic? Is that chronic ear infection flaring up? Does the aggressive behavior reflect a sudden change, or have you sorta-kinda seen a problem coming but wanted to believe everything was fine? I strongly suggest making written notes. A detailed account of the aggressive episode is golden, whether your dog needs behavior modification, or medical treatment, or both. Meanwhile, prevent further rehearsals of the aggression-- avoid the problem situation as much as you possibly can.

How I Taught My Dog She Didn’t Need to Growl at Me

Izzy’s guarding of her pig ear was mild, so my behavior modification was fairly casual. A good program is meticulously tailored to the individual dog, so please get professional help rather than trying this on your own. I taught Izzy that if I approached when she had a pig ear, she could expect a small piece of roast beef to land nearby. Soon she acted glad to see me coming. Now I could approach more closely, and then more closely still -- always pairing my arrival with a tasty treat. I started trading her -- pig ear for roast beef, and then she’d get the pig ear back. Sometimes I’d hang out with her and her pig ear, giving her a treat from time to time. In a couple of weeks, the program was done. It’s been years since Iz felt any need to growl at me. I’m pretty sure a persistent humper would still get a roar and snap. And that’s okay by me.

For more resources on aggression, see the transcript at dogtrainer.quickanddirtytips.com. And talk to me! Email dogtrainer@quickanddirtytips.com, call 206-600-5661, or visit me on Facebook – search on The Dog Trainer. That’s it for this week! Thank you.
Additional Information
For behavioral help, your best bet is a board-certified veterinary behaviorist (especially if medical problems need to be treated or ruled out) or a trainer with special expertise in behavior modification. Evaluate any prospective trainer according to the criteria in my episode #5.
The use of pain, fear, or startle in a behavior modification program does not reflect the modern standard of care; the position statement of the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior explains why.
While you shouldn’t attempt to handle behavior problems on your own, excellent reading materials can help make you an informed participant in your dog’s care. Here are just a few:
“Mine!” (resource guarding) and “Fight!” (dog-dog aggression), by Jean Donaldson, and “Biting” and “Fighting,” by Ian Dunbar, DVM.
“Feisty Fido,” by Patricia McConnell, Ph.D., and Karen London, Ph.D., discusses on-leash aggression toward other dogs. Be sure to get the new second edition.
Pat Miller’s Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog and Positive Perspectives 2: Know Your Dog, Train Your Dog are valuable general resources.
My example of a dog stressed by the presence of a child reflects reality: children are bitten more often than any other people. See, for example, Shuler, Carrie M., et al. 2008. Canine and human factors related to dog bite injuries. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 232 (4) (Feb. 15): 542-46.
Finally, Janis Bradley’s Dogs Bite: But Balloons and House Slippers Are More Dangerous is indispensable for putting the whole problem of dog bites into perspective. The title says it all, and Bradley backs up her position with meticulous research.

 

How to Stop Your Dog from Stealing Food

by Jolanta Benal 

Almost everybody who has lived with dogs has had that sinking feeling. You know the one: it comes when you’ve been out of the kitchen for a few minutes and suddenly realize that Dogalini is licking her chops. Also, the block of artisanal Cheddar you left on the counter is either inside her or wearing a cloak of invisibility, and since we’re not at Hogwarts, you know which it is. This week: stealing food, counter surfing, and what to do about it.

How to Stop Your Dog from Stealing Food

First, let’s get morality out of the way. Your counter-surfing canine may annoy the heck out of you, but she isn’t being “bad.” Our best evidence about dogs suggests that they evolved as scavengers of human garbage and waste. Scavengers . . . scavenge. They look for edible stuff that’s lying around unattended, and when they find some, they eat it. “My people are saving that artisanal Cheddar to impress their guests, so I’ll leave it alone and wait for my dinner to show up”--well, just no. Animals that pass up chances to take in calories don’t leave as many descendants as their better-nourished peers. Our anger can upset our dogs, sure, and they’d prefer to avoid it. But eating whatever they found is what kept their ancestors alive. That evolutionary history doesn’t vanish just because some dogs live in houses now and get regular meals.

You Can Stop Your Dog’s Counter Surfing

So how do you keep any dog who’s tall enough or agile enough from looking for food on your counter? After all, sooner or later, if he has a working nose, he’s going to notice the delectable smell of your Tofurkey wafting down. And, as the Los Angeles trainer Sarah Owings writes, “no matter what you do (rat traps, spray bottles, pennies in a can, a strict clean-up policy) counter surfing is still reinforced by that peek-a-boo glimpse ... at what my boyfriend likes to call ‘the realm of the gods.’” However, all is not lost. Your best defense combines management and training.

Prevent Your Dog’s Counter Surfing by Putting Food Away

“Management” means that you do your best never to give your dog access to unattended food. Clear the table or counter, or push the food back out of reach, or close the door. If you’re actively cooking, manage by crating your dog, putting her behind a baby gate, or tethering her.

Sarah’s right that even looking at empty counter space is rewarding--but at least it’s much less rewarding than actually finding something to eat. Every single time your dog gets lucky on your kitchen counters, he becomes likelier to try again. There was a cheesecake once! There might be another someday. If your dog’s experiments in vertical grazing never work out for him, he’ll try them less often.

By the way, I choose the example of cheesecake for a reason--our counters and tables make such attractive foraging sites because they offer huge potential bonanzas. When you’re frustrated with your dog’s counter surfing, bear in mind the California Gold Rush.

Punishment Is a Waste of Time

As for training, the old-school answer to counter surfing is the booby trap--the rat trap or penny can array that Sarah mentioned. A high-tech version, also known as the same-old, same-old wearing a new dress, is an indoor shock fence with a perimeter around the kitchen and dining area. Low tech, high tech, don’t waste your time. Plenty of dogs are unimpressed by booby traps, and supposing your dog is put off by yours, are you really going to set it up every single time you leave the kitchen for the rest of your dog’s life? Of course you’re not. And eventually every dog but the most timid is going to take a chance that the world won’t end if she jumps up. Besides, when you’re cooking, you yourself will need that counter space.

As for that most timid dog, the one who’s scared off counters forever by the rattling cans, you run the risk that clattering metal will also become scary forever. How fun for both of you when you drop your keys or take out empty cans for recycling. Shock systems cost big bucks, and even fans of these devices admit that just setting them up and turning on the juice is inhumane. Dogs need to be taught to heed the warning tone and avoid the shock. Finally, no punishment in the world can teach your dog what you do want. Spend your time on that instead, then pass Go and collect $200.

Teach Your Dog to Lie Down Instead of Stealing Food

Convince your dog that she can forage successfully by lying down.

So, what would you like your dog to do when there’s food around? I like a relaxed, out-of-the-way down. The key is to remember that counter surfing is foraging--your dog wants some of whatever smells so good. Therefore you, you brainy primate, must convince your dog that she can forage successfully by lying down. Here’s how.

I’m going to assume that your dog lies down on cue and that you’ve taught her a little bit of a down-stay, so you can walk around for 30 seconds or so without her getting up again. If not, first check out one of the training guides listed in the Resources section below and teach her that. Then come back at cooking time and set yourself up with a stash of treats. I am possibly the world’s laziest trainer, so I just use tiny bits of whatever I am cooking, provided it’s safe for dogs. Yes on the artisanal Cheddar; no on the raisins and onions, for instance. If you have a limited supply or the current ingredients are too pricey to share, choose any safe human food that your dog loves. Shreds of leftover meat or eggs or French toast should work just fine.

Deliver Treats While Your Dog Lies Down

Have your dog lie down a bit out of the way but close enough to make treat delivery easy--you’ll either be giving the treat by hand or tossing it so it lands right by her. Since lying down and staying put is the behavior you’re rewarding, you don’t want your dog to have to get up.  Frequently deliver something from your morsel array. Or have a helper do so. If your dog reliably holds a down-stay for 30 seconds, keep those treats coming rapidly at first--an average of every 15 seconds wouldn’t be too often, at all. Vary the interval so your dog never quite knows when a treat is coming--think of that old song “You Just Keep Me Hanging On.” Over days and weeks of practice, lengthen the interval between treats. But err on the side of generosity. You’re building a habit for a lifetime. The more solid your early teaching, the more reliable the end result will be.

Teach Your Dog to Love Lying on a Mat When Food’s Around

If you use a mat or bed as your dog’s hangout location, and make sure that lying on it works really well as a tactic for getting hold of your succulent food, that mat or bed will become hugely attractive to him. He’ll begin to gravitate there on his own when food appears, in hopes that some of it will make its way to him. Fulfill those hopes often enough, and you’ll find that, as Sarah Owings puts it, the bed “acts like a magnet.” Sarah reports that her dog Zoe heads for her bed 95 percent of the time when Sarah’s working in the kitchen, because “being on her bed is a guaranteed way to get paid.”

Can you be sure your dog will dog never, ever, ever counter surf? Probably not, but if you combine training and management you can get pretty darn close. As for the rest--well, chalk it up to life with a clever animal who appreciates artisanal cheese.

That’s it for this week. I’m always happy to hear from readers – look for The Dog Trainer on Facebook, email me at dogtrainer@quickanddirtytips.com, or call 206-600-5661. You can also follow me on Twitter, where I’m Dogalini. Happy training!

Resources

Any of the following can help you teach your dog a down-stay (and other mannerly behaviors):

Miller, Pat. The Power of Positive Dog Training, 2d ed. (Howell: 2008).

Dunbar, Ian. How to Teach a New Dog Old Tricks (James & Kenneth, 1996).

Tillman, Peggy. Clicking with Your Dog Step-by-Step in Pictures (Sunshine Books, 2000).