How Animals Make Us Human
How Animals Perceive the World
Animals in Translation pg. 47
Why Does My Dog Do What He Does?
“Seeking Novelty Versus Reactivity”
Dr. Grandin’s columns are excerpted in part from her bestselling books on animal behaviour. Understanding why your dog does what he does is key to changing behavior and helping him to become calmer and less reactive. There is a physiological and biological cause for your dog’s behaviour. Dr. Grandin will delve into your dog’s mind and explain in human language what he is thinking and why he reacts the way he does.
“Curiosity is the other side of caution. An animal has to have some drive to explore his environment in order to find food, water, mates and shelter. And that’s probably true. Curiosity can get an animal into a lot of trouble. They say that curiosity killed the cat but an animal or a person can be too cautious too. If you are too cautious to explore things, you miss out on things you need. Being too cautious might make you miss signs of danger too. Animals and people need to avoid trouble before it happens, and one way to do that is to pick up on signs of danger and act on them now, instead of waiting until you are face-to-face with a hungry wolf and not try to get away. Curiosity drive an animal to explore its environment for signs of danger… You can use the exact same checklist… with dogs, [but] it’s a little hard to predict which new things might scare them, since dogs live with people and get exposed to so many new things all the time. A dog who’s not naturally timid can seem like he doesn’t mind high contrast novel stimuli….but I don’t think that’s true. One of the good times to see the effects of novel visual stimuli on a dog is Halloween. My experience is that dogs do not like Halloween costumes! A friend of mine was sitting in her upstairs office, getting some work done, with the family Lab lying next to her, when her son walked up the stairs wearing his Scream costume. You probably know the one i mean: the costume is dark black and the mask is bright white with a big red tongue hanging out of its mouth. You can’t get more higher contrast than that unless you made the tongue yellow. The lab jumped to her feet and started her head off.
My friend was totally surprised because she had recognized her son from his footsteps which sounded the same way it always did. He was not wearing a costume on his feet but the minute the dog saw the mask she went nuts.
This is another example of the Cardinal rule of my checklist: Just one of these distracters out of 18 will throw an animal off. To the Lab, it didn’t matter that my friend’s son still sounded and smelled the same. He didn’t look the same, so he wasn’t the same. And that was that. Apparently animals use an additive system rather than an averaging system when they are figuring out what something is and whether they should be afraid of it.
That same Lab also went crazy when the neighbor put a Halloween scarecrow up on the front yard. My friend was taking her dog for a walk when they spotted the scarecrow and the Lab started barking ferociously at the thing. Her hackles were up too. That same house managed to throw my friend’s other dog into a panic with a piece of lawn sculpture they put in the backyard. The sculpture was a foot high all-black iron frog and when the other dog caught sight of it he had the same reaction his other pack mate had to the scarecrow. He went nuts. Frantic barking, hackles up, straining at the leash.
Dog and cat owners won’t have any problem recognizing the next category with common distracters: things that are moving. For any animal you can name, sudden movement is riveting, especially sudden rapid movement. Rapid movement stimulates the nervous system. It makes prey animals run away and it makes predator animals give chase. It always grabs your attention. That’s why used car lots put flags or twily plastic thingies up all around their lots. You can’t not look at a bunch of brightly colored, rapidly moving objects. Jiggling parts on feedlot equipment trigger a cow’s inborn impulse to flee and all of the sudden you’ve got a whole herd of cows running into the feedlot version of a forty-car pile up. It’s a disaster.”
Dr. Temple Grandin, Animals in Translation pg. 47
–Why do some dogs react to fast moving stimuli versus slower moving stimuli? The answer is quite simple. In nature, things that move slowly are not seen as a threat. Animals grazing in a field or drinking water by a community watering hole or pond move slowly and non threateningly and are not staring at or giving direct eye contact in the direction of a prey animal. An animal moving slowly is not seen as a potential source of danger or concern. However, in nature, fast moving objects and animals are perceived as a threat or as a food source. Think of a rabbit perched quietly eating some grass. The rabbit stops and remains motionless so as not to draw attention to itself. But when that rabbit perceives danger, it hops quickly away to save its life. That quick movement, the flight instinct, is what causes the predator to see it as dinner. That sudden movement becomes the trigger that stimulates the chemistry in the predator’s brain to run and give chase.
Those herding and working dogs including mixed breed buffet versions will often have very strong prey drives and can be exceptionally reactive to movement and light. THE WORST thing to do for these dogs is to use a laser pointer or reflection from a watch or phone to stimulate the dog’s prey drive. Particularly if you value your television, walls or carpet. When dogs especially herding breeds learn to chase a laser pointer, they become intensely reactive to anything that moves quickly and this can be deadly if you own other smaller pets such as cats, bunnies, tropical fish or birds. The dog becomes so hypersensitive and hyperfocused on movement that several of Janice Wolfe’s clients who had used laser pointers prior to her behavioural intervention were forced to keep the shades down in every room of the house to prevent light from filtering in and causing their hypersensitive and reactive dogs from lunging at wall and floors and fish tanks. One of her clients had a very expensive saltwater fish tank that was knocked over and broken by a large German Shepherd who thought that fish moved too quickly. You can imagine that all the fish died and that the mess of glass and coral that was left because of a laser pointer and some ignorance.
Much as Dr. Grandin notes that used car lots use flags and other flapping objects to catch your attention, so did the brightly colored tropical fish captivate the GS’s attention and fall prey to lack of knowlege. Rest in Peace $3,000 oops.
Now that you can understand the scientific principles behind your dog’s behaviour, let’s follow canine behaviour guru, Janice Wolfe who rehabilitates dogs with behavioural issues that most trainers and other “behaviourists” have difficulty or are unsuccessful at helping. For those of you with a dog who are fearful or uncertain, let me explain the difference in the dog’s mind. Think about climate and weather. Climate is the trend of weather over time. Weather can change day to day and can vary from day to day or week to week. Climate however tends to be more consistent as it averages climactic change over time. Climate would be more relevant when planning a vacation to Florida or California when you are living in the NorthEast and are trying to avoid snow and cold temperatures for a family vacation. We all know that Southern California and Southern Florida have a climate that is typically warm throughout the year although there is certainly a variation day to day or week to week. It might rain for two days but we know there will not be eight feet of snow in Southern Florida or Southern California, especially in the summer. This is much like the concept of fear versus uncertainty in dogs and other animals. It is my belief that fear is an innate genetic or intense environmental factor much akin to climate. It is the general way in which animals react as an overarching behavioural reality. Think of someone you know who is easy to scare with a Halloween costume or mask. Some people may jump up and scream and even run out of a room in terror while others will simply laugh at the vain attempt of the costume wearer to frighten him or her. There are definitely some humans as well as animals who are genetically or environmentally predisposed to fear and the “fight or flight” mechanism.
Uncertainty in a dog is related more directly to the dog’s lack of clarity (SHHH HAPPENS) as to whether he is responsible being the parent or rather is the protected youngster who is not responsible for paying his parents mortgage. When a dog sees a Halloween mask or costume or decorations that make sudden movements, it triggers that dog’s fight or flight mode. If the dog has a natural tendency toward fear versus dominance, it will seek to flee in order to protect itself from the perceived threat. If the dog has a natural propensity toward dominance, the dog’s reaction would more likely be one of fight mode and potentially redirected aggression at anyone or anything that might attempt to grab at the dog or enter his space at that time. This is how many owners are inadvertently bitten by their own dogs when a more dominant or extremely fearful dog is engaged in its fight or flight mode.
When a dog is engaged in seeking novelty, particularly in dealing with fearful dogs, you should give the dog a bit of space and not crowd him when he is in this emotional teeter totter. The problem with seeking novelty such as looking at Halloween decorations or costumes, is that if the dog’s switch flips from seeking novelty to flight mode, the dog may drag you with him wherever he goes. If the dog acts out of dominance, it is more likely that you or someone else may be bitten or scratched because the dog feels threatened and the dominance kicks in.
A fearful dog on the other hand, will tend to act more unpredictably when frightened or challenged, because fear and uncertainty makes a dog unpredictable. Teaching your dog with the “Rule of Threes”™ will help to reprogram circuits in his brain that are responsible for reactivity and hypersensitivity to stimuli. Stimuli can be distractors such as another dog, a scary costume, wheels or skateboards, or even a crying baby. Novelty is curiosity. But the same dog who approaches an unfamiliar or novel stimulus, can also become suddenly reactive when the switch flips in his mind. Using the rule of threes, especially with dogs who tend to be reactive to other dogs or animals and common sights such as baby strollers, bicycles will reprogram your dog’s reactivity so that the novel stimulus no longer sets your dog off. When approaching an unfamiliar distractor that your dog reacts to, don’t stop and wait for it pass. Don’t look at your dog and tell him “It’s OK.” because it’s not OK. Don’t turn tail and run, showing your dog that you are weak and fleeing from perceived danger. Remember, fight, flight, avoid and submit only contains two viable options. We should never show our dog that we are weak and afraid but instead should use human logic that keeps in line with the psychology of a dog. When faced with a challenge or distractor, we don’t want to fight. We definitely don’t want to flee (flight). We should choose to avoid. We should never submit. The only two viable options are to fight symbolically, or to avoid. Your dog needs to see you as a strong protector and guardian, not as a bowl of jelly that becomes an amoebic, amorphous, blob.
One of the most critical part of being your dog’s protector and guardian is to instill confidence in him that you will keep him safe, which them precludes him from leadership and protection over you and himself. In other words, a dog who feels safe and protected is far less likely to be reactive in dominance and fear. A dog who feels uncertain if you are protecting him or if he is protecting you, will be far more reactive and unpredictable.
When approaching a novel situation or a known stimulus, place the dog on your side, away from the distractor. In other words, if you are walking and your dog is on your left, and the unfamiliar or predictable stimulus is to your right, you are blocking your dog in a physical way from danger. This alone, physically placing the behind your or away from the perceived dangerous or scary stimulus, shows the dog in his own language that you are placing yourself between him and the perceived danger. Much like a chivalrous husband would place himself in front of his wife and family to take the bullet for them, so will placing your dog behind you or to the opposite side show your dog in a very visual and meaningful way that you are protecting him. Dogs will typically be far less reactive to stimuli when they are feeling safe rather than when feeling threatened or challenged.
One way to understand reactivity in dogs is to think of “threshold”™ or distance from the stimulus. Some dogs will react to a stimulus at only a few feet while others will begin to react at distance of hundreds of feet. When working with a dog who is quite reactive and often unpredictable in new situation or novel stimuli, think of the threshold as being large enough whereby the dog either does not react at all or reacts so mildly that you are not sure if it is a reaction or not. If your dog is for example very dog reactive or dog aggressive. Do not being with dogs on a six foot leash next to each other because their reactivity will typically be greater the closer they are to the stimulus. Being at a distance of, let’s say 100 foot. If your dog does not react at 100 feet, we will use that as your threshold. Do not just to 20 feet for you next attempt at canine shock and awe. Instead bring the stimulus only a few feet closer at a time and be sure to utilize the Rule of Threes. Practice first at a threshold of 100 feet and repeat this exercise a minimum of three times to each direction, since dogs are generally non-ambidextrous, so to speak, and objects look different from the left and the right.
Shrink the threshold a few feet at a time until you begin to see the reactivity kick back in. let’s say your dog begins to react at 75 feet. Repeat the exercises that happens at “New Dog Meet and Greet” (link to chapter in SHHHH HAPPENS). If you are successful at 75 feet, after the initial reactivity, quite for the day while you are ahead. Please refrain from “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory”™ Once you are successful at that new threshold, go home or do something fun. Your dog will show you he has had enough and has processed his new information by “licking, yawning, panting, shaking off and stretching.” (refer to section on How Do I Know My Dog “Gets It”– How to Process Information)
When you begin the next day or the next lesson after giving your dog a respite, do not start at 75 feet. Instead start at 80 feet for example and give your dog the benefit of repeating his successful threshold before advancing 75 feet or 65 feet etc. Remember, much like the Rule of Threes applies to individual thresholds and behaviours, so can it take three days of consecutive behavioural modification techniques for that threshold to become more permanent.
What is a normal reaction to a novel stimulus? Barking aggressively is not an acceptable reaction. Backing away gently or shifting behind his human, or averting his glance, are all acceptable manners of your dog’s processing capabilities. So if your dog is backing up and growling, you will need to correct him and teach him that although you understand his fear or dominance, that you are not accepting it as appropriate behaviour. Think about a toddler in his terrible twos or a teenager challenging his parents, and think about the concept. You can understand that a child or teen is reacting as it is a normal part of development. However, it is not an acceptable behaviour. By telling your dog, “It’s OK.”, you are reinforcing the fact that the behaviour being exhibited is OK and acceptable. When we tell a child, “It’s OK.” during a thunderstorm or scary event, the child understands our words. In english or any other language. The child comprehends that we are his parent and that It’s OK means that he is safe. Unfortunately however, dogs do not speak English or any other humans language. True, dogs can learn what sounds and sound patterns mean but they cannot think in language. They think in pictures. Dogs do not think in humans language. Dogs speak “Doginese”(™) is a language of pictures and of sounds and of sights and smells. A dog who is dog aggressive, does not think “That dog is a German Shepherd and when I was three months old a dog who was part German Shepherd jumped on me at the dog park and scared me. Therefore I must forever be wary and alert of all dogs I perceive as being German Shepherd crosses.” Dogs think is pictures. They see a dog who looks like another dog and they think either fight, flight, avoid or submit. Nature is not always kind but it has worked to keep species developing and surviving for millions of years. This is science. This is life.
So why can’t we give our fearful or dominant dog a cookie or high value food reward in a fearful or dominant moment? Why shouldn’t we use a shock collar (E-collar or training collar) on our fearful or dominant dog? Here’s why. Science. Natural selection. Common sense. Think of your dog in the moment he is reacting either in fear or dominance. He either wants to run or fight. You tell him “Look at me!” or “Leave it!”. He is in an unstable and potentially reactive state of mind in that moment. You command him to leave it or to look at you. He leaves it or looks at you but is still in that fearful or dominant state of mind for ten seconds to several minutes yet only two or three seconds after the command you reward his fear or dominance by giving him a treat. What did you actually reward? Did you reward his looking at you? Did you reward his leaving it alone? No. You actually rewarded the state of mind he is still in for ten seconds to several minutes after. Dogs live in ten second increments. Think of yourself for a moment. Something startles you. You walk into your home that was just burglarized. Your good friend turns to you and says, “Sit down. Calm down. Here’s a cookie!” Do you feel better now? Neither does your dog. His heart’s still racing. His mind is still focused on something else. His body is still in fight or flight mode why in the world would we ever want to reward that state of mind in that moment? This is the problem with training versus behaviour in dogs with behaviour issues.
Some distractors are potentially threatening to humans. For example, men with beards, hats, hoodies and other appearance altering apparel can cause the novelty of a first experience to turn into a disaster. THose of you with a dog who is reactive to people and other animals but particularly tall or bearded men, wheeled objects, hats and hoodies and other common alterations of appearance, have a deep and explicable cause. Remember that animals see things differently than do people. Thus, when a person or other animal is coming into a dark hallway or from outside at night, the dog sees only part of the human or animal. Dogs eyes see about the same amount of color as humans do at dusk or a brightly lit moon night. So when a hoodie or hat protrudes over the face, the dog sees only a portion of the face which appears distorted and thus no longer human. Bright lights or whites tend to come forward or up while dark colors or black tend to move back or down. Think about a black and white patterned floor with alternating patterns of black, white, black, white. We see a totally cool, retro 50’s floor but to the dog, it appears that there is only half a floor that is solid and higher than the other half of the foor that appears to recess down and away. A dog viewing such a floor, and particularly one that is unfamiliar with this, may be very apprehensive at walking on the black tiles. He may hopscotch his way across the floor. Some dogs will not walk on a shiny marble or tile floor that looks as if it is in motion or recessing, an a simple carpet runner will then empower the dog to gain confidence and to traverse the room he would not budge towards before the runner.
SHHHH HAPPENS! Doggie Behaviour 101, Janice Wolfe
Dogs who are in fight or flight mode can act in an unpredictable manner. Are you an angry person? Hopefully not. But have you ever been angry? Probably so. Your dog need not be aggressive to act in an aggressive manner. Redirected aggression does not require the dog’s being angry, but rather being in a questionable grey area of fight or flight. In these cases, it is best to consult an experienced certified canine behaviourist who can help you to understand and restructure the dog’s behavioural triggers. UK9pros.com
- A dog who is innately calm can become uncertain in specific situations, even if he is rock solid normally. This can be the case when there are multiple news distractors. This is like the weather. In that moment or on that day it rained. In that moment on that day, your dog reacted to something he never did before. Just as the rain will stop so can we end that behaviour and prevent it from becoming an ingrained habit. Refer to section on introducing your dog to new stimuli
*pg 45. “Fear of the Unknown is universal”
* Animals Make Us Human, Chapter One. “What do animals need?”
