Admin

Yes, dogs and dog owners can go through a honeymoon period just like couples do when at the beginning of their relationship everything seems deliriously perfect. The phenomenon is most commonly observed during the transitional period of adjustment occurring before a newly rescued dog “settles in.” The new dog owners may make remarks such as: “Oh, this dog is perfect as can be” or “he’s settling in very nicely!” but as with the honeymoon period in couples, this idyllic phase is often destined to end. As problem behaviors emerge, dog owners may feel puzzled and frustrated by their “altered relationship” with their new dog which started out so seemingly positive yet is now falling apart.

Shelter/Rescue Honeymoon Period

As mentioned, the honeymoon period phenomenon is more commonly observed in rescue/shelter dogs as they adjust to a new environment. It generally lasts a month, but according to veterinary behaviorist Karen Overall, it can go as long as 3 to 5 months. This post-adoption period usually begins with the dog behaving quite well during the first weeks and months.

During this time, the dog’s behaviors are somewhat inhibited and suppressed. Then, as the dog adjusts and “makes himself more at home,” dog owners may start seeing the emergence of behavioral problems such as chewing, excess barking or growling when a toy is taken away.

Dogs may seem angelic before they get their footing, so if behavior problems start to appear after a few months, get help from your veterinarian and/or a specialist immediately!! The earlier the help, the faster the dog turns around.” Dr. Meredith Stepita, DVM, DACVB

[otw_is sidebar=otw-sidebar-1]

Causes of Honeymoon Period

What causes the honeymoon period?  There may be several explanations. Dogs who have been surrendered have gone through a lot of stress and going to a new home entails lots of changes. When dogs face stress, they may act in uncharacteristic ways such as appearing more subdued and reserved around people and other animals. As they adjust to their new surroundings and their stress hormones return to normal levels, their real personality may eventually shine through, sometimes revealing the same undesirable behaviors that caused their previous owners to surrender them in the first place.

Another potential cause are dog owners who feel sorry for the dog and are overindulgent in the first days. They allow the dog to beg at the table and climb on furniture but then later on, they regret it. When they then try to implement new rules, they may not be consistent enough and may struggle as the dog doesn’t listen. Newly adopted may go through a “trial phase” where they’re seeing which behaviors they can get away with and which not. Behaviors that are reinforced (even inadvertently) by the owners will strengthen and repeat. This applies to both rescued dogs and foster dogs.

“By the end of the month, if you haven’t carefully managed your foster to be sure the behaviors you like are the ones being reinforced, you may see the increasingly noticeable presence of undesirable behaviors. What rescuers refer to as seeing “the real dog” after one month may just be those behaviors becoming established over time through reinforcement.” ~Pat Miller

Puppy Honeymoon Period

Even new puppy owners may go through a “puppy honeymoon period” taking place shortly after the puppy has been improving in the potty training department. The puppy is no longer having accidents and he’s learning not to chew on shoes, so the puppy owner pats himself on the back for doing a good job.  Not that fast though! Fast forward  a few weeks or months, and the puppy hits the adolescent stage and the puppy owner has an abrupt wake-up call. The puppy who was once obedient and eager to please has now started to pose “a deaf ear” to the owner’s requests and has also started to develop new fears and phobias. While in human couples the end of the honeymoon period may lead to breakups and divorces, in the dog world it may sadly lead to a one-way trip to the pound.

 “People often find that adolescence is the most difficult stage with which to live. According to the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy, nearly half of dogs surrendered to shelters are between the ages of five months and three years.” Sue Brown.

Surviving the End of Honeymoon

There are several effective ways to survive after the honeymoon period ends. The best option is to prevent problem behaviors from emerging in the first place. From the first day your new dog comes home, make the house rules clear and use positive training methods to inform your dog which behaviors are desired from him. Establish a predictable routine, limit stressful events, manage the environment to prevent rehearsal of undesirable behaviors, and most of all, make sure you and your family are consistent.  Many new dog owners often tend to spoil the dog too much the first days, and they may pay the price for their overindulgence later.  Of course, all these tips can apply to puppies as well! If you have recently adopted a dog or are having trouble with your adolescent puppy, don’t ignore problem behaviors hoping they’ll go away on their own; in most cases, they’ll only get worse! Enlist the help of a force-free trainer/behavior consultant for proper guidance.

Did you know? The honeymoon period may also refer to newly diagnosed diabetic dogs. Although it doesn’t happen commonly, the term is used to depict the period during which a dog’s ability to make insulin returns for a while.

References:

• Sue Brown, Juvenile Delinquent Dogs – The Complete Guide to Saving Your Sanity and Successfully Living with Your Adolescent Dog, Dogwise Publishing,  2012 Paperback
• Pat Miller, How to Foster Dogs: From Homeless to Homeward Bound, Direct Book Service; 1st edition (November 21, 2013)

[otw_is sidebar=otw-sidebar-1]

Sure, it’s helpful to train a puppy not to jump, chew and beg at the table from an early age, but teaching bite inhibition is paramount because it can prevent future problems and even make a difference between life and death. When puppies come to our homes, generally around 8 to 12 weeks, they should have already learned the ABCs of bite inhibition through repeated feedback attained via their interactions with their mother and litter mates.  Today, we will discover how puppies learn bite inhibition.

What is Bite Inhibition?

Dogs are equipped with strong jaws and sharp teeth reminiscent of the old days when they killed their prey, teared up meat and cracked bones. Thankfully, dogs can be taught how to inhibit their bites so their teeth won’t cause harm. Bite inhibition entails learning to develop a soft mouth. As puppies mature, through their social interactions with their mothers and siblings, they learn to moderate the strength of their bite.

Learning bite inhibition is very important because animals do not have an innate predisposition to gauge the strength of their jaws. Fortunately, the ABCs of bite inhibition are learned naturally while the puppy is around his mother and siblings. Through consequences, the puppy soon learns that “when I bite hard, all fun things end.”

The Milk Bar is Closed

As the puppies grow, they reach a certain point around 3 and a half weeks of age when they no longer need to depend much on mother dog’s milk. Nature has marvelously intertwined the process of weaning with bite inhibition. As the puppy’s razor sharp milk teeth come out, nursing starts getting painful for mother dog. At some point, as soon as she feels her skin being nipped, she will get up and move away from the pups.

[otw_is sidebar=otw-sidebar-1]

This is the best time for the breeder to start presenting other food sources. Puppy mush, a semi-liquid gruel will attract the hungry puppies who will start depending less and less on milk and more and more on other food sources. The weaning process has begun, puppies will soon start eating solid foods and mother dog will start decreasing milk production.

Play Sessions End

Play is an important life lesson of its own. By playing, puppies learn socially acceptable behaviors and how to apply restraint despite excitement. When puppies are still in the litter, they learn the ABCs of bite inhibition by playing with their litter mates and mother. Should a puppy bite too rough, the other puppy will emit a sharp yelp and withdraw from the game, giving the rowdy pup a little time-out.

This life lesson is further emphasized by mother dog, who may play a bit with the pup, but won’t take rough puppy mouthing. She will get up and leave the moment the pup gets too rough. Day after the day, the puppy soon learns that if he wants to continue to play, he must learn how to gauge the pressure of his mouth more and more.

A Matter of Negative Punishment 

Through the repeated interactions with mother dog and siblings, at some point, puppies will learn that biting roughly has an unpleasant outcome: everything good ends. The puppy bites mother dog too hard during nursing? Mother dog gets up and leaves. The puppy nips his playmate too hard? The playmate squeals in pain and leaves. What do these events have  in common? They’re based on negative punishment, also known as subtracted punishment. What does this mean?

According to the Association of Animal Behavior Professionals negative punishment is “A behavior change process in which the subtraction of a stimulus during or immediately following a response class member, results in a decrease in the rate or frequency of the response class on subsequent occasions.” In more simple words, here’s what happens: the puppy’s rough biting behavior decreases in its rate or frequency because every time he bites, something is removed (subtracted). By losing access to milk and his playmate, the puppy soon learns that rough biting isn’t worth it.

Further Education

Puppy classes are a place where the puppy can further learn to inhibit his bite. Dog owners should not skip this opportunity as bite inhibition is something that needs to be taught early. Once a puppy loses all his milk teeth, it may be too late to teach this skill. The jaw will be strong enough to cause damage and the other dogs may react violently to the hard bites. If the puppy hasn’t learned a firmly anchored, reflexive level of bite inhibition by the time of puberty, it may be too dangerous for him to play along with other dogs, explains Alexandra Semyonova  in the book “The 100 Silliest Things People Say about Dogs.”

Good bite inhibition is the most important quality of any companion dog.  Moreover, a dog must develop bite inhibition during puppy hood, before it is four and half months old. ~Ian Dunbar

The Owner’s Role

After learning the ABCs of bite inhibition from his mother and siblings, the new puppy owner must take over the task and inform the puppy that people’s skin is even more sensitive! Therefore, the puppy must learn that bite inhibition requires further refinement. To teach it, owners should absolutely refrain from engaging in any aversion-based methods such as holding the puppy’s mouth shut, tapping its nose or giving the puppy a shake, as these methods can trigger defensive biting and affect trust.  Often, puppy owners are advised to yelp and stop playing just as the pup’s litter mates did. While this may work with some puppies, it may not work with all. Some puppies may get more aroused and will bite even more if their owners scream and withdraw their hands quickly upon getting nipped too hard. Why is that?

Nicholas Dodman has a great explanation. In the puppy’s eyes you become the equivalent of a large squeaky toy, an entertainment piece that activates upon being nipped. Soon, the puppy learns to nip you just for the pleasure of watching your response! And no wonder the nipping repeats! In this case, rather than decreasing the behavior through negative punishment, it’s actually being reinforced through positive reinforcement! A better option may be to just stop playing, no drama, simply turning the back to the puppy and even leaving the room if the nipping persists. Repetition after repetition (bite inhibition isn’t something learned overnight), this should give the puppy a strong message. “I won’t interact with you when you’re mouthing that hard!” At the same time, puppies need lots of positive feedback when they’re biting gently and interacting with hands in an appropriate manner.

Other Important Lessons

When a dog is presented with an unpleasant stimulus or situation, his first instinct should be not to bite. Ideally, the dog should resort to other forms of ritualized aggression before resorting to biting. It’s paramount to never suppress ritualized aggression in dogs such as growling or snarling as this practice may lead to a dog who bites without warning. Rather than punishing a dog for growling or snarling, it’s best to consult with a force-free dog behavior professional. Growling, snarling and snapping are outward ritualistic manifestations of an internal turmoil that need to be addressed by going to the root of the problem.

Ritualization is a series of conventions that evolve in an animal species to allow the resolution of conflict with reduced risk to all participants. ~Jean Donaldson

The Bottom Line

Good bite inhibition doesn’t mean that your dog won’t never nip or bite (even the most saintly dog can bite!), but should he manage to, his bite should cause little or no damage, explains Ian Dunbar in his book “Before and After Getting Your Puppy.” Bite inhibition is therefore a sort of umbrella policy, an extra liability insurance on top of a dog’s inclination to use ritualized aggression. Bite inhibition and socialization go hand in hand for their vital role in shaping the puppy’s future and preventing behavior problems. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior reminds us that “behavioral issues, not infectious diseases, are the number one cause of death for dogs under three years of age.” By socializing a puppy and teaching good bite inhibition, it’s possible to reduce the risk of serious behavioral problems later in life.

It’s therefore paramount to teach a puppy bite inhibition. The “priming” period occurring when the puppy is with his mother and siblings allows an advantage for new puppy owners who can continue teaching the puppy to further refine the force of the puppy’s bite. The initial goal is to teach the puppy to inhibit the force of his bite, while afterward the focus should be on reducing its frequency. The more people involved in training bite inhibition, the better the pup will generalize. Puppy classes and consultations with reputable trainers can help provide guidance. Luckily, teaching proper bite inhibition should not be an arduous task as puppies come into this world with weak jaws and a developing brain which paves the path to learning a stellar level of bite inhibition without inflicting damage.

Bite inhibition is what makes the difference between a moment of stunned silence and a trip to the nearest emergency room for the victim (and perhaps the euthanasia room for the dog).~ Pat Miller

References:

• Jean Donladson, The Culture Clash, James & Kenneth Publishers; 2nd edition (January 19, 1996)
• Ian Dunbar, Before and After Getting Your Puppy,  New World Library (October 6, 2008)
• Alexandra Semyonova, The 100 Silliest Things People Say about Dogs, The Hastings Press (April 3, 2014)
• The Whole Dog Journal, Teaching Bite Inhibition, by Pat Miller retrieved from the web on February 11th, 2016
• The Pet Professional Guild, Your Puppy Nipping Guide, retrieved from the web on February 11th, 2016

Can a stressed pregnant dog pass down her stress to her unborn puppies? We may assume not, considering that likely puppies aren’t fully conscious yet, and thus, have little or no memory. And on top of that, isn’t the womb a place where babies and puppies are protected by any internal and external pressures? Wouldn’t the puppies be somehow shielded from the stress mother dog experiences? We often imagine the womb as a safe, protected environment that’s well-insulated and designed to shield from harm, but turns out a pregnant dog’s stress reactions may have an impact on her unborn puppies and there’s likely a survival reason as to why.

Mother Dog Stress

Mother dogs won’t likely suffer from financial or relationship troubles, but they are vulnerable to other types of stress triggers. Let’s imagine for a second the level of stress a pregnant dog raised in a puppy mill may be exposed to. Housed in a cage with little space, exposed to loud noises, surrounded by a large number of dogs and provided with zero enrichment or positive human social interaction, these puppy mill breeding dogs are exposed to sources of psychological distress that can induce stress-induced psychopathology, explains board-certified veterinarian Franklin D. McMillan. 

When  mother dog is stressed, stress hormones are released into the bloodstream. Normally, puppies are shielded from the effect of stress hormones courtesy of a special enzyme that inactivates them at the level of the placenta. However, when the levels of mother dog’s cortisol, a hormone released in response to stress, are consistently high, some manages to seep through the placenta with the end result of reaching the developing fetuses. What does this mean to the puppies? It means that the puppies “learn” that the world is a scary place to be and their bodies develop an appropriately tuned stress system and metabolism, explains veterinarian  Jessica Hekman.

Effects on Puppies 

As mother dog’s body deals with stress hormones, extra energy is pulled away from digestion and storage. This may affect the proper growth of the puppies, leading to the birth of puppies that are smaller in size. On top of that, prenatal stress in mother dogs may lead to long-lasting alterations in the brain structures of the developing puppies leading to behavioral deficits that are similar to those observed in schizophrenic humans, explains McMillan.
Once born, the puppies are predisposed to anxiety and are particularly vulnerable to effects of stress as they have an impaired ability to cope and adapt to the challenges, threats, and adversity they may encounter throughout their lives.

[otw_is sidebar=otw-sidebar-1]

Scientific research suggests puppies born to dams who have experienced acute or chronic stress during their pregnancy are more likely to show retarded motor & learning development and abnormal exploratory, play, social, sexual and maternal behavior. ~Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors

A Survival Purpose

Let’s imagine how stressful life may be for a pregnant stray dog. She may be wandering in search of food and endure daily stresses such as being attacked by other dogs, risking getting ran over and being constantly scared off by people. A highly reactive stress response in this case is important and can make the difference between life and death, explains Hekman. The release of stress hormones through the placenta in this case may offer an important survival tactic so that the puppies are better primed to face a harsh environment full of threats. While this can be an advantage if the pups lived on the streets, it would not be appropriate for puppies living as pets in the comfort of a home. In such a case, a hyper reactive stress system would turn out being unnecessary and maladaptive. This is why it’s so important that pregnant dogs are kept in a low-stress environment.

In our previous article on when puppies develop their sense of smell, we saw how chemosensory prenatal learning shaped the dietary preferences of puppies when weaning time was around the corner. With smells passing through the amniotic fluid, and then flavors passing in the milk, we learned how puppies rely on their mother’s knowledge to learn about which foods are safe to eat. Today instead, we can see how prenatal stress affects the future behavior of the puppies. Discovering how mother dogs pass down these vital pieces of information to their puppies, so they can receive “a taste” of what life will be like even before they are born, is quite remarkable and fascinating.

Just a Puzzle Piece

Prenatal stress is only one of the many possible factors that may be behind the presentation of puppies with a skittish behavior. There are several other things to factor in when it comes to the abnormal behavior development of puppies, some factors being present even prior to life in utero. One big factor is genes. Puppies may inherit behavior traits from their parents, therefore along with health testing, responsible breeders will screen their prospective dams and studs for sound temperament. The environment where puppies are raised also plays a big role in how the puppy develops. Knowledgeable breeders are aware of the deleterious effects of removing the puppies from the litter too early, inadequately socializing them and failing to provide adequate levels of enrichment and exposure to stimuli likely to be encountered in their future homes.

As seen, the intra-uterine environment plays a role in the development of skittish behaviors in puppies, but there are also many other factors. Many say that behavior is the result of nature (genetics) or nurture (the environment), but as researcher/science writer Robert Sapolsky states definitively goes a long way: “No heredity. No environment. Only the interaction between the two.”

References:

• The Harmful Effects of Puppy Mills on Breeding Dogs and Their Puppies, by Franklin D. McMillan, DVM, DACVIM Best Friends Animal Society 5001 Angel Canyon Road Kanab, UT 84741
• Association of Pet Behaviour Cousellors, Rearing Puppies, by Elaine Henley
• Whole Dog Journal, How a Mother’s Stress Can Influence Unborn Puppies, by Jessica Hekman, DVM, MS
• Henry, C., Kabbaj, M., Simon, H., Le Moal, M., Maccari, S., 1994. Prenatal stress increases the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response in young and adult rats. J. Neuroendocrinol. 6, 341–345.
• Dickerson, P.A., Lally, B.E., Gunnel, E., Birkle, D.L., Salm, A.K., 2005. Early emergence of increased fearful behaviour in prenatally stressed rats. Physiol. Behav. 86, 586–593
• Robert Salposky, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, W. H. Freeman; 2nd edition (April 15, 1998)

[otw_is sidebar=otw-sidebar-1]