Welshtyke

We have adopted two rescue Bassets. However the bithch she can be curled up with you stroking her all nice and placid. Sometimes if you reach down to touch her front paw she can become grissly, growly and snappy. I assume this may be the cause of bagage she may bring, since she does not limp or no outward sign of injury. Any ideas what may cause this?

murraysmom

I evaluate dogs for our pet therapy organization to see if they're suitable for therapy work. One part of the temperment test is touching the dog's feet to see how they react.

I've encountered dogs that hate to have their feet touched, and have failed the evaluation because of that. Sometimes the owner will go home and work with their dog to get them over their discomfort at having their feet handled, come back to be re-evaluted,and the dog will get a pass. Sometimes they can't get past the problem.

Lightning&Stomps

When I adopted Stomps, he was about 3-5 years old and no one could touch his ears, feet or armpits. As he became more trusting of me, he relaxed and allowed myself and others to touch those areas, although for the rest of his life I warned newcomers about touching those places. He went from having to wear a muzzle to have his toenails clipped to laying passively for the groomer (never for me, though!). So your rescue might take a while and get over it, or not. Even if she gets over it with you, I would still warn people about touching her feet.

Mikey T

Touch senisitivity is not likely cause by a rescue's "baggage" but can be the result of inadequit handling and habituation as a puppy. On thing to be also on the look out for is resource guarding. The vast majority of resource guarders are touch sensitive as well. Beat in mind that not all touch sensitive dog are resource guarders just something to be on the look out for,.

some resources to help deal with the problem

MINE! - A GUIDE TO RESOURCE GUARDING IN DOGS

below is an excerpt from a fair Review of the book above on the relative part dealing with touch sensitivity

CAUTIOUS CANINE - HOW TO HELP DOGS CONQUER THEIR FEARS, 2ND EDITION
an primer in counter conditioning and desensitivation techniques. While the focus is stranger the tenchinques can and are successfully applied to a myriad of situations, touch sensitivity being one.

Internet articles

Desensitization & Counter Conditioning

Touch and How It Affects Your Dog

Welshtyke

Many thanks for all replies. This dog psycology bit is really quite fascinating. The dog whisperer techniques I also find very interesting.

Mikey T

Just understand they have no baisis in reality Dogs are not wolves nor are they pack animals. just as Wolves in the wild are not packs but rather family units. Most of what you think you know by what that show is perpetution of myth.

What ever Happen to the term Alpha Wolf
Why won't Dominance Die
The Dominance Conterversy and Cesar Milan

Dominance in Dogs

Dominance in Dogs is Not a Personality Trait

Position Statement on the Use of Dominance Theory in Behavior Modification of Animals by American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior

if you are truely interested in "dog psycology" read The Social Organization of the Domestic Dog
A Longitudinal Study of Domestic Canine Behavior and the
Ontogeny of Canine Social Systems

Welshtyke

Thanks Mikey. I will read with interest. I am new to basset ownership and we have two a bitch 4 yrs and a dog 8 mth. The dog at the same time every evening about 19:30 starts getting very playful jumping up and biting (nipping). I would never hit him to stop (thats the road to no where), he does get the water from from a water pistol in the face, to get him to stop or dragged outside. However this seems the wrong way to go about things hence my interest in "dog psycology". I think there is a some jealousy with bitch when she gets a cuddlle first etc. We got both dogs from rescue so I don't know whether he was taken from his mother before 12 weeks, and we are his second owner, so there may be some stress related problems.

With respect to the Alpha therory, there are things that should not necessarily do like sitting on the same level going to the older bitch first etc. would this cause stress. Perhaps I should throw the Alpha therory in the bin and just treat them both equally with respect.

John

Mikey T

The studies that have been done have shown the domance reduction exercise (first through door ways, human eating first]etc do not effect dominance aggresion. There can be other reason for doing them such as creating a more orderly household but reducing aggression is not one of them,,

Supporting the "older bitch" is a oversimplication of the suport the Alpha. In general the older animal is more likely to be the alpha but a better measure is not the age of the dog but espescially with rescue in which it is older dogs entering the household the "alpha is more likely to be the dog that has been in the house the longest.

But here is the problem in order to apply "alpha" theory to the real world so many exception need to be made it looses all reason. Why is it when the beta dog is on the prime sleeping spot the Alpha then goes to another spot rather than force the beta to move. Or why does the Older Alpha let the younger more playfull beta free access to the toys. It is pretty simple The Alpha modle is an oversimplication and a poor modle of how dogs and most societies arrange themselves.

For instance each dogs has a range of thing the find pleasure in and some of those thing more so than other. It is certainly not the same for all dogs. It is not uncommon to find the Older dog dominating the most comfortable bedding because that is more immportant to him than the others. The puppy that controls the toys. One dog that is more likely to be snuggling next to a human and still another first in line foor treats or a scrap of food that fall to the floor during food prep. Each dog though observation, social cues etc learn what is important to the other and itself and seeks to come to an order that maximise first his pleasure along with that for the entire group. It is non confrontrational.

As for support the Alpha or treating each dog equally, neither is actual practical. It is against human nature to specifical discriminate against a particular dog so the support the alpha is difficult to imppossible for humans to maintain. Second because dogs do not share the same level of appreciation for the same things treating them equally does not work well. There is a practical matter as well. It is harder to feed two dogs at the same time than one after another etc. It is better for the dog to learn some impulse/fustration control which occurs when one dogs gets something befor the other. What work is treating each dog fairly and striving to give the dog that what it needs. For one dog that may mean extended play time and another an extra snuggle, not equal but in general fair.

Mikey T

Jumping up and biting what? This type of behavior in general has two factors at work on is jumping up and nipping tend to be attention seeking behaviors. Now the standard answer to attention seeking behaviors is to ignore the behavior and not reward it with attention, keep in mind Negative attention i.e. punishment is attention and often actually a reward for the dog. While in theory it will work from a practical stand point it does not because most attention seeking behavior work in the first place by being obnoxious enough that they can be ingnored. And even if the human is diligent in attempting to ignore the behavior a phenonenom known as an extinction burst that occurs when a previously reinforces behavior ceases to be reinforced in which the behavior becomes more incistent and stronger, before eventual becomeing extinct, problem is the makes the behavior supper obnoxious and even more difficult to ignore and the impressing the cure is making things worse not better.

What does work is teaching an incompatible behavior that is more effective. To stop a dog from jumping up, reward the dog for keeping for feet on the ground in those situations it normal jumps etc. see; Stopping Negative Behavior Positively


You note the behavior is predictable. For many dog that are on a schedual with food, sleep and general routine they also like a schedule for other normal activities as well and this includes play/attention. You can stop the negative behavior by being proactive by offering what the dog is seeking before the dog has to ask. That is if the dog starts jumping up and nipping at 19:30 schedual to plau/walk/exercise the dog at 19:00 and the incidents of problems at 19:30 general will disappear.

Most attention seeking behavior can also be classified as a lack of impulse control as well. Most dogs today have verey low natural threshold of impulse control but it is something that can be taught, and one of the few area I find dogs better able to generalize the behavior. Impluse control is the most important trait for making a dog easy or dificult to live with.

Any Dog Can Live Calmly in a House - Even Yours!

Impulse Control


Lowering Arousal: How to Train Impulse Control

Quote:

The absolute first thing a person must do is understand what adolescence is. (I posted part of this about a week ago. Forgive the repeat.) Every puppy of every breed -- and every adolescent of every species that raises its young -- goes through the same thing at adolescence. Adolescence is an important, necessary transition period between childhood and adulthood. As infants, these creatures were completely helpless, completely dependent upon their mothers for everything -- food, comfort, safety. In childhood, the creatures begin practicing the skills they'll need later. However, they do it right there with mom in sight, so mom can protect or help as necessary. They instinctively know they aren't able to take care of themselves, so they stick close. The eventual goal is, of course, adulthood. Complete independence. Mom won't be there to make decisions -- or to alleviate them of responsibility for their mistakes. The real world will be applying consequences, and those can be harsh (even fatal). The animal will, perhaps, become a parent herself, and must have all the knowledge and skills to raise the next generation. Adolescence is the transition between the safe practice of childhood and the independent, butt-on-the-line reality of adulthood. Adolescence is the time when "Because I said so" simply isn't good enough anymore -- Nature *demands* that they test boundaries and consequences and decide for themselves what decisions they want to make. It's not dominance or rebellion. It's growing up. Yes, even pet dogs *have* to go through this period. "But he won't be making decisions -- I will," you protest. Actually, I doubt it. Unless you're planning to be there, directing his every move 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you need your dog to know how to make decisions. More importantly, you want him to make the decision *you* want. And you want him to make this decision even when you're not there to back up the decision. ... The second thing to do is make sure the dog is well-exercised physically and mentally. They're going through a growth spurt, in addition to massive mental development. They need to exercise ALL of those muscles. Get that up out to a safe place where it can truly run. Play games like fetch and retrieve that really work the dog. If you've got a doggy daycare, put the dog in daycare once a week and let him play himself silly (as well as learn to speak dog fluently!). It's imperative to continue dog-dog socialization through adolescence. They are going through massive changes, and they need to learn to relate to their species on a different level. Lots of dog-dog aggression shows up in adolescence not because the dogs are innately aggressive, but because they are changing mentally and physically and haven't learned to communicate effectively as a teenager