Month: October 2016

Understanding Dogs Who Guard People

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People may sometimes think it’s cute when little Gidget, the Chihuahua, growls when people come near the owner, but guarding the owner can be a troublesome behavior that can end up with a trip to emergency room when somebody ends up getting bitten for getting too close. Not only, when a dog bites a person. the owner can be liable for medical bills easily amounting to thousands of dollars and the dog can even end up being put down, and at that point, this scenario is definitively no longer cute!

From Rover’s Perspective

What is really going on in a dog’s head when he decides it’s time to protect a certain person? The dog barks, growls and lunges to anybody who tries to come near. It’s as if the dog was saying “paws off my favorite person!” and the behavior tends to escalate the closer the person moves.

Anytime we wonder why dogs act in certain ways, it helps to ask ourselves what’s the inner reward the dog is gaining from the behavior. As many dog professionals say: “Behavior is reward driven.”

Behaviors that are rewarded tend to strengthen and repeat so little Gidget must have found the behavior of guarding his favorite person rewarding in some way.

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A List of Pawsibilities

What rewards can a dog gain from guarding a person? There can be several. If the dog perceives the owner so valuable, he likely cherishes any form of attention from his favorite owner and that often includes the negative type.

If every time Gidget growls at people coming near the owner, the owner may likely laughs, try to sooth him or perhaps scold him. Since Gidget values the owner’s attention so much, it works as a reward that will keep the behavior of barking, growling or lunging at anybody that comes near, alive.

If the owner takes Gidget on walks and Gidget doesn’t like that the owner stops the walk and diverts her attention to other people, he may have found a way to make the people go away, so he gets the owner’s attention back to him and resumes the walk. Win-win!

Sometimes, it seems like a dog is guarding the owner when in reality the dog simply feels uncomfortable or is fearful of having people walk near. In this case the inner reward is mostly sending the people away, so that dog feels safe again. Several dogs have space issues and may get increasingly uncomfortable with people invading their person “bubble.” They may be fine with people several feet away, but if they come too close for comfort, they will start barking, growling and lunging which can be easily perceived as guarding the owner when the dog is on walks or close to the owner. It’s important to have a professional evaluate the dog to determine exactly what is triggering the behavior so that it can be addressed accordingly.

idea tipFood for thought: Sometimes, if the owner carries treats on walks, it could be the dog is actually guarding the treats and not the person. In this case the dog’s inner reward is sending people away from the goodies the owner is carrying!

CaptureTackling the Issue

Once the dog’s inner reward is recognized, an appropriate behavior modification can be initiated. For instance, if the dog’s inner reward is the owner’s attention, removing attention the moment the dog engages in the undesired behavior would likely be most effective. This is known as “negative punishment” and it has nothing to do with use of physical punishment! To the contrary, negative punishment is pretty much force-free, all the owner is doing is removing the reward (the attention) that fuels the behavior.

So if say Gidget the Chihuahua was on the owner’s lap and were to bark when a person came too close to the owner, the owner would immediately say in a cheerful tone of voice “Ooops!” as she stands up and places Gidget on the floor. After several repetitions, Gidget will eventually notice that barking at people, no longer grants him owner’s attention, but instead makes the owner go away! What a loss!

In the case of dogs who instead bark at people because they’re uncomfortable having them around them, standing up and leaving them alone to fend for themselves can make them feel even more fearful. In this case, these dogs may benefit from desensitization and counterconditioning, a behavior modification protocol where we make good things happen in presence of the scary stimulus presented very gradually.

So if Rover is given tasty tid-bits every time a person is approaching starting at a distance, he may eventually learn that great things happen when people approach. The end result may be a dog who is more comfortable having people nearby or even a dog who is eager to have them around as their presence equals treats! Of course, these are just examples, and since every dog is different, they may benefit from personalized behavior modification methods, which is why seeing a professional for these issues is so important!

“All living things repeat behaviors that are rewarding and avoid behaviors that are not, if you remember this simple concept, you can teach every behavior that you want your dog to do and change every behavior that you don’t want… You accomplish this by rewarding the behaviors you want and ignoring or preventing those you don’t want.” ~Pat Miller

Disclaimer: this article is not meant to be used as a substitute for professional behavioral advice. If your dog is showing signs of guarding people, please consult with a professional for a proper hands-on assessment and treatment.

References:

Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog, by Pat Miller, Dogwise Publishing; 1st edition (September 21, 2004)

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Fascinating Functions of Dog Teeth

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Most dogs are blessed with 42 teeth, but do you know how dogs use their teeth? Sure, we know that dogs use their teeth for eating their chow, chewing bones and toys, and sometimes they also use them for grooming, but not all those doggy teeth are created equal. Indeed, every type of teeth dogs have are purposely crafted to accomplish specific tasks. So today, let’s discover what those dog teeth were built for, how dogs use them and some interesting facts about dog teeth you might not know.

A Look At Dog Teethdog-teeth-lower-jaw

Puppies have 28 teeth, which just as in humans, are deciduous meaning that they will eventually fall out. However, not always everything goes smoothly, and sometimes puppies may end up having retained baby teeth, basically baby teeth that are reluctant to fall out leaving little room for the permanent teeth to grow.

This can lead to problems, such as abnormal bites (malocclusions,)and therefore, retained baby teeth sometimes need to be pulled out.

When all goes well though, the dog’s 28 baby teeth are replaced by 42 adult permanent teeth, usually by the age of 7-8 months old. These permanent teeth consist of 20 teeth housed in the dog’s upper jaw and 22 teeth housed in the dog’s lower jaw. More precisely, there should be 6 incisors, 2 canines, 8 pre-molars and 4 molars in the upper jaw, and 6 incisors, 2 canines, 8 pre-molars and 6 molars in the lower jaw.

idea tipDid you know? Dogs are considered diphyodont, which means that they get two successive sets of teeth, the “deciduous” set, and afterward, the “permanent” set.

Dog incisors
Dog incisors

What are a Dog’s Incisors Used For?

Dogs have a total of 12 incisors in their mouths consisting of six incisors in their upper jaw and six incisors in the lower jaw.

There are two central incisors, two intermediate incisors, and two lateral ones.

What are dog incisors used for? These single-rooted teeth have several functions. If you watch your dog chew on a bone, you’ll likely notice that he doesn’t seem to use his incisors much, but if you give your dog a bone with some meat attached, you may notice that he’ll use this front teeth to rip and scrape the meat off the bone. For sake of comparison, the action is similar to when we remove kernels of corn on a cob.

On top of being used to scrape bones, those incisors also come handy for removing burrs from the coat and carrying objects around.

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What are a Dog’s Canine Teeth Used For?

Dog canine teeth
Dog canine teeth

Right next to the incisors are a dog’s canine teeth. Dogs have four canine teeth, two in the top and two in the bottom.

When the dog’s mouth closes, these canine teeth should intersect nicely when they meet in a scissor bite. Canines are those sharp and pointy single-rooted teeth that are common in meat-eating animals.

What are dog canine teeth used for? A dog’s canine teeth were very important for survival purposes, as they allowed dogs to inflict several stabbing wounds to their prey. They also helped in catching and holding prey and tearing carcasses apart.

idea tipDid you know? Canine teeth also help dogs keep their tongue in place and therefore act as a “cradle for the tongue.” Indeed, when the lower canine teeth fall out or are removed, the tongue may be more likely to hang out of the mouth.

dog premolar teethWhat are a Dog’s Premolars Used For?

A dog’s premolars win the contest as the most numerous teeth in a dog’s mouth, if such a contest ever existed.

Dogs have a total of 16 premolars, eight in the upper jaw and eight in the lower one.

They are located behind the dog’s canine teeth. Also known as cheek teeth, some of the farthest premolars are only seen when a dog’s lips are pulled back.

What are these premolars used for? If you watch your dog chew on a toy or bone, you’ll likely see him tilt his head to side so that he can use his premolars. In the wild these teeth are use to rip meat away from bones. The arrangement of these teeth somewhat resembles shears with a serrated blade, an arrangement that helps dogs break food into smaller pieces, courtesy of these teeth’s sharp edges.

What are a Dog’s Molars Used For?

Molars live in the shadow, as they are tucked deeply inside a dog’s mouth, out of sight and often out of mind. There are four molars in the dog’s top jaw and six molars in the lower jaw. Often people become aware of their existence only when the vet mentions that one or more of these teeth need extracted.

What are a dog’s molars used for? We can get a clue from these teeth’s flat surfaces. Dog molars are  crafted so to allow dogs to grind foods like their kibble and crush bones. Mother dogs also rely on their molars to snip off the pups’ umbilical cord, explains Dr. Katherine A. Houpt in the book “Domestic Animal Behavior for Veterinarians and Animal Scientists.”

idea tipDid you know? Since puppies rely on milk for their first weeks of life, they aren’t equipped with molars.

How Are Dog Teeth Counted?cam00649

Dog teeth are counted by using a method known as the Modified Triadan System. Basically, imagine having your dog’s jaws split into four parts with a vertical line and a horizontal one.

You are therefore left with the dog’s mouth split into four parts: the right upper arch, the left upper arch, the right lower arch and the left lower arch. Each of these arches are given a numeric range.

The right upper arch is the 100 numeric series, the left upper arch is the 200 numeric series, the left lower arch is the 300 numeric series and the right lower arch is the 400 numeric series.

So for sake of an example, the dog’s first incisor on the right upper arch is tooth number 101, the second 102, the third 103 and the canine tooth is 104.

References:

Clinical Anatomy and Physiology for Veterinary Technicians, By Thomas P. Colville, Joanna M. Bassert, Mosby; 2 edition (December 21, 2007)

Dental Vet, Dental Anatomy, retrieved from the web onm Sept 30th, 2016

Photo Credit:

Wolf mandible diagram showing the names and positions of the teeth., William Harris – Desktop publishing software – The base-image came from work that is publicly available, CC BY-SA 4.0

 

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