Sachem and Buddy

Yesterday I went on a follow-up visit to a couple who had called about a dog that was beginning to display aggressive behaviors. I had seen them two weeks ago and had given them some unexpected advice. Their German shepherd mix Sachem was the dog they had called me about, while reassuring me that the other dog, Buddy, was friendly but hyper active. I suggested that Buddy’s hyper activity was what was stressing Sachem, and if they concentrated their efforts on calming Buddy down, Sachem’s behavior would mellow as well.

I demonstrated some techniques to convince both dogs that the humans in their pack are in charge and they’ve implemented those techniques for the last two weeks. There was a noticeable improvement in the behaviors of both dogs and things were going well, though slowly.

The ring of the door bell creates immediate havoc by Buddy and Sachem gets caught up in it. I showed the couple how to produce calmer behavior in Buddy by ignoring his demands for attention and was immediately rewarded by Sachem with some enthusiastic face-licking. He then proceeded to lie down and relax. While we were working with Buddy, Sachem made frequent efforts to calm his pack mate down by mounting and humping, as well as nipping at Buddy’s neck. All of these behaviors were the indicators that verified that Buddy is Sachem’s problem and when the couple has succeeded in calming Buddy down, Sachem will follow suit.

When the couple revealed that they had purchased a back-pack, we loaded it with canned goods and put it on Buddy. The calming affect was immediate and obvious. He was far from completely calm, but vastly improved over previous behaviors. I suggested they have some people come for a visit and put the pack on Buddy fifteen minutes before the expected arrival. I also suggested they put the pack on him any time he started to become too hyper, as well as during the walk.

This profound behavioral change is due to the dog’s understanding of what is being asked of him. In a normal situation he has free reign to choose his own social behavior, but no instinctive knowledge of human social rules. When the humans in his pack become dominant by Buddy’s canine standards, it will convince him that the humans in the pack are qualified to give him behavioral directions. However, this is long-term rehabilitation. Putting the pack on his back gave him a job and he knew he was now required to “carry a load.” This provided some of the behavioral instruction he was missing and had an immediate calming affect on him. Giving a dog a job they can understand will frequently alter their behavior dramatically.