too. Just think about a dog that would prefer you didn’t look in its ears; instead of putting up a fight or running off, it runs around manically, brings you a toy or leaps about like a puppy.
Your amygdala is your greatest friend. It keeps you safe and sometimes saves your life. Unfortunately, it can also become your worst enemy. Watching a scary horror movie might make you jump during the film, but afterwards – when your amygdala is still wired – it can make you leap out of your skin at the imagined sound of a footstep on the stairs. Over-activating the brain and body’s flight or fight responses leads to over-activation of the brain’s recognition of threat signals, and if this situation becomes chronic, it can lead to weight loss, immune deficiencies, stomach disorders and skin problems.
While in kennels, there’s no doubt that Dave was anxious and fearful. Faced with the choice of running away or standing to fight, I’m sure he would have preferred to high-tail it into the distance but the confines of the kennel walls prevented this and he began to oscillate between backing away and lunging forwards. Sadly, this is often how dogs learn to use defensive aggression and once they discover that it makes the ‘threat’ go away – exactly the impact they want – it quickly becomes an ingrained behaviour pattern that can be hard to break.
To most humans, barking is threatening, annoying and largely meaningless. It’s something we want to stop rather than listen to. Ironically this is probably what most dogs would say about human speech! However, tune in to barking and it’s possible to hear that the intonation varies between barks and that even the frequency and rapidity of the sound communicates the dog’s emotional state and something of his message. A single, low ‘ouff’ is a quiet warning that tells of danger or potential threat. Known as an alarm bark, it is designed to warn others in the social group without giving away the dog’s position. Rapid-fire, joined-up barks tend to be defensive: they say ‘keep away’. High-pitched staccato yaps are more likely to be playful and show excitement. Such interpretations may seem subjective, but research has shown that even people who don’t own dogs can tell the difference between a dog barking because it is joyful and one which is upset or lonely, just by listening to an audio recording.
Poor Dave was in survival mode from morning until night. George told me the dog even seemed to sleep with one eye open, and he was clearly suffering as a result. He was thin, despite being well fed. His coat condition was poor, with his hair coming out in handfuls – yet another sign of stress. He had repeated bouts of stomach trouble, for which the vets could find no clinical reason. It wouldn’t be long before his chronic stress began to cause a serious degeneration in his health.
In order to work with Dave and George when they came to my clinic, I had to find a way to move about safely in his presence. Although he was not proactively aggressive, there was little doubt that he would use defensive measures to make me back off whenever he felt scared. Simply crossing my legs was enough to trigger him to bark and lunge at me, and even I find it stressful to be continuously threatened – it triggers my amygdala, too!
Our first strategy was a rather unusual one. Many traditional trainers would have tried to intervene using punishment or a ‘startle’ technique, such as throwing a can of pebbles at the dog, but it was clear to me that Dave needed to relax rather than feel more threatened. Inspired by the work of ‘Tellington Touch’ practitioners, who use gentle ‘body work’ and very specific massage-like touches to calm their animal patients, I sometimes use close-fitting fabric wrapped around the dog’s body in order to give them a sense of security. In the past, I have used bandage-like ‘body wraps’, or have taken a trip to the local charity shop to buy kids’ T-shirts. If you get the right size, the dog’s front paws go through the armholes and, after a little tailoring with a pair of scissors, the T-shirt can fit over the dog’s head and round the chest quite snugly. Nowadays, you can buy actual doggie body wraps designed for this purpose, rather than as a fashion accessory – and their effect can be pretty remarkable.
The way in which body wraps or close-fitting fabric seem to calm anxious or frightened dogs is still up for discussion. It’s possible they alter the dog’s awareness, so that it focuses on its own body rather than external sights or sounds, or they may simply give the dog a sense of security. Either way, they have proved very useful in many cases, especially when the dog is afraid of fireworks or thunder – and with no side effects, they are sometimes worth a try. Dave certainly looked smart in his body wrap and seemed calmer when wearing it when in stressful situations.
Next, we needed to establish a base-line of security for Dave where he would feel safe enough to eat. Eating is important because the very act of chewing seems to calm dogs (part of the reason why anxious dogs chew up the furniture when their owners leave), and the pleasure of eating tasty treats can reward good behaviour. However, offering a fearful dog a dry dog biscuit is a little like offering me five pounds to go bungee jumping. Quite frankly, I wouldn’t entertain the idea for anything less than £50,000.
For this reason, I had a bag full of home-made liver-cake ready and waiting. However, there was no way I could simply put my hand out and expect Dave to take a treat from me. He was far too fearful. Instead, I asked George to take the treats and open the bag. Dave did what any sensible dog would do and turned his nose to sniff the delicious aroma.
Liver-cake Recipe
The ultimate training treat – no dog will be able to resist your charms when you carry a pocketful of liver-cake!
1lb (450g) liver (lamb’s or pig’s)
1 teaspoon of oil
2 eggs
1lb (450g) granary flour
2 cloves of garlic (optional)
A dash of milk
» Liquidise the liver with the eggs, milk, oil and garlic in a blender.
» Add to the flour and mix.
» Put into a microwavable dish and cook in the microwave on full power for 6–10 minutes. The cake should bounce back when pressed lightly, when cooked.
» Cut the cake into slices and freeze. Take out of the freezer when required and defrost before use.
(Note: for dogs with sensitive tummies, you can substitute a tin of tuna for the liver.)
That was good enough. Using a clicker, George marked the head turning and sniffing behaviour, then offered Dave a treat from the bag. Like many German Shepherds, Dave was immediately suspicious. He refused the treat and it dropped to the floor. I told George to leave it there and to show Dave the bag full of goodies. Once again, Dave moved his nose a couple of centimetres towards the food. George clicked again. This time, he didn’t attempt to feed Dave the treat he had earned but instead dropped it onto the floor next to the other one. Dave sat back slightly. He looked at George, then at the two treats on the floor. I could almost see his brain whirring. He looked back at George, then deliberately moved his nose again towards the bag. He got his click and the food treat went on the floor. Dave just couldn’t resist the number of treats on the floor. He bent his head slowly, very slowly, and sniffed them. George clicked and added a fourth treat to the collection. Dave put his tongue out and tasted one of the bits of liver-cake. Click, and another appeared. He took one into his mouth. Looking for all the world as if he were being poisoned, he ate it very tentatively. I tried not to look at him in case it put him off. Deciding that he might live after all, he ate another.
Now that we had a little window of opportunity, it was important to use it wisely. I gave George a running commentary on Dave’s body language and facial expression – which I was checking out of the corner of
