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Gizmo
Lives in: Köln
Age: 8 months
Breed: British Shorthair...
bomani
Lives in: horb am neckar
Age: 2 months
Breed: Rhodesian Ridgeback
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Recent visitors
A few things you might want to know about me
What have I experienced up to now?
Buster arrived 4 hours after the others. It had been part of our unwritten pre-nuptial agreement that we would bring up a puppy and a kitten together at sometime PA (Post Arthur, that is, our beloved white moggy, who died last April at the age of 20). There was no hesitation about the kitten; for years I had pined for a Ragdoll, a beautiful semi-longhaired cat with Siamese-style colourpoints, deep blue eyes and a laid-back nature. In an unguarded moment my husband Derek suggested we had two kittens “so they can keep each other company when we’re out walking the dog”. I accepted instantly scarcely containing my joy that the suggestion had come from him, a dog person and not a cat person.
Selecting the dog breed was more involved. Size and temperament were the deciding factors. The characterful face of the Miniature Schnauzer clinched the deal. Derek had owned 2 dogs before, a mongrel and a Sheltie and assured me that both were really well-behaved and had been easy to train. I had never owned a dog before so I welcomed this as a new and exciting experience.
After weeks of searching we were lucky to find canine and feline litters ready at the same time. And so on the morning of July 9th last year we enjoyed a lie-in and a quiet breakfast together, knowing that life would not be quite so peaceful for a while. Barney and Socks, the Raggie twins, moved in nervously, needing 6 hours to venture from the safety of their cat-carrier into their unknown new world. Brother Buster, chosen as a dog who would stand up to 2 cats, strolled in as if he owned the place, sniffing the garden as if to give it his seal of approval as an acceptable playground; little did we know that this was the first big clue of the rollercoaster ride we were about to experience.
Buster was extremely well-socialised from the outset. An incessant chain of piano pupils, more eager to see the animal creche than the dots on the page, ensured he quickly became confident with children. Friendly and affectionate, he thrived on lots of attention.
The “multi-faceted controlling aggression to owners regarding them leaving room or house” (the professional behaviourist’s diagnosis for which we later paid a large sum of money) began surreptitiously in the early autumn coinciding with a teenage rise in testosterone.
Over a period of 5 months what was initially viewed as an entertaining, harmless skirt-tugging puppy game evolved into controlling dramas of rigorous shoe-lace, trouser and coat tugging accompanied by ever-increasing ear-piercing histrionics whenever Derek or I tried to leave the house. By the end of February the piggy-squealing, hind-leg ballet pirouettes and near-suicidal lemming leaps at the kitchen door, were worthy of any Oscar-winning performance. Psycho puppy had moved in and I, in particular, could not move out. Life verged onto the ridiculous when I no longer felt free to move in and out of the kitchen without an episode of relentless trouser-tugging. Embarrassingly on two occasions our next-door-neighbour heard the rumpus and came round to rescue me from Buster’s unyielding grip! The tally of ruined clothes rose to 5 pairs of trousers, 1 jumper and 1 jacket. However every cloud has a silver lining and this did give me a wonderful opportunity to enjoy some retail therapy!
We had not been complacent about “Buster Blood Vessel’s” (his new appropriate nickname; wasn’t he the lead singer of “Bad Manners”?!!) behaviour. Since October, we had been trying to crack it, seeking advice from dog books, dog forums and dog trainers, all of which, as we learnt later, served to send mixed messages to Buster.
Mimic the mother, one said, high-pitched squeals of “OFF”. It didn’t work. “Try different tones of voice” they said …… so we squealed “OFF” in low tones, we bawled “O..F…F” in threatening tones. No reaction whatsoever from our little terrorist.
This is what I really LOVE...
cont.......So we tried distraction, first of all with food. Buster snatched the chicken and then lunged for the trousers with ever-increasing determination. We tried clicker training, rewarding good behaviour, but the bad behaviour returned instantly. Then we tried noise distraction, banging 2 saucepan lids together like the cymbals in the 1812 Overture, in an attempt to shock him. He was unshockable, the single-minded concentration of the work in hand sending him almost into a trance. Another suggested intimidation; this resulted in my normally placid husband metamorphosing into a Sergeant-Major worthy of the finest Sandhurst training, and grabbing Buster by the collar shouting obedience commands whilst staring threateningly into his eyes.
February was the month when I embraced New Age training in an attempt to calm Buster. He and I lay on the floor (desperately hoping the postie would not spy us through the window) listening to “Relaxation Music for Dogs” (the gentle percussive boom-boom accompaniment mimics the mother’s heartbeat), whilst sniffing the aroma of the DAP diffuser and gently massaging Buster’s temples. It did nothing for Buster but worked wonders on me!
With Buster’s behaviour declining rapidly at the age of 9 months (I could no longer leave the room or house in safety as the tooth-scrapes confirmed) and with the vet’s referral, we called out an exceptionally well-experienced and highly-qualified behaviourist. She walked into our home ignoring Buster’s demands for attention and watched our interactions with him. She diagnosed his behaviour was very much about aggression and control, not play, and that this was influenced by dominance, agenda conflict, territorial issues and some separation anxiety (apparently separation anxiety and dominance are often linked). Her report stated Buster “shows various assertive, demanding and controlling and/or aggressive behaviours within his household, including selective compliance despite having had obedience training and understanding a range of obedience commands”. We learnt that dominance can be subtle. When Buster was jumping up asking to be stroked, we were unknowingly rewarding his initiative and telling him that we obey his commands.
According to Fogle “The Dog’s Mind”, “aggression is a commoner problem in male dogs than in female dogs and suggests the importance of sex hormones on behaviour. Testosterone hormone production is controlled by biofeedback involving the senses, the excitement of winning stimulating increased production of testosterone. This time of puberty is the time when the dog might choose to challenge his human pack members for leadership of the group”.
This was what seemed to be confirmed in the behaviourist’s report: “Apart from the mental stimulation of this behaviour he gets a psychological reward from winning confrontations and managing to influence the actions of others. Buster can also find his reaction to be a very effective tension/frustration release. Additionally he is likely to experience a further physiological reward of the “feel good” factor following his adrenaline surge. Several factors combine when Buster is left alone, when he is likely to be about to be left, or when he can’t have free access to his owners. He feels frustrated (at not getting what he wants), anxious (as he can’t monitor his owners’ activities and whereabouts) and lonely, distressed and agitated when not able to engage in this contact monitoring behaviour”.
Gosh, we drowned in buckets of low self-esteem as we felt we had failed him, in spite of all our efforts. It was an awful, unspoken realisation that if we did not change things quickly, he would not be able to continue living with us. However we took comfort in reading that whilst psychology defines aggression as “learned behaviour”, not every dog will have the desire to bid for leadership, so it did seem likely that Buster had a stronger will than most!
I DON'T like this at all...
cont.....We were going to have to ensure Buster had the lowest-ranking in our group if he and us were going to live happily together. We needed to relieve Buster of any necessity, responsibility or entitlement of deciding who can leave or move about the house and when. We needed to tone down his competitive outlook and avoid high testosterone levels. Castration was recommended and performed urgently on the vet’s advice. Buster was also given an anti-hormone injection to reduce testosterone even more quickly.
Initially we regained control by putting Buster on the lead indoors, which helped to establish reliable responses to verbal commands. With Buster on the lead we worked on desensitising him to leaving cues.
We worked out what triggered his anxiety. Picking up keys was the earliest item in the getting-ready-to-go sequence, so we picked up keys over and over again, restraining Buster from any signs of aggression and praising him for good behaviour. We did not use food as a reward, he had to learn to do it just to please us. We then put coats on and off and even sat down to read the newspaper with coats on! We introduced emotionally cool departures and arrivals so as to reduce the significance of both. Upon returning to the house, we ignored Buster’s demands for attention, made a cup of coffee, emptied the shopping and then, when Buster was calmer, made a fuss of him.
We introduced “NILIF” (Nothing In Life Is Free). Buster was required to earn everything he received, even a cuddle! Everything was on our terms and not at his demands. We followed through on every instruction given to ensure compliance and issued directives frequently. We even threw chicken on the floor and walked him around it saying “Leave it”; he did not even get the reward at the end!! We took control of the toy-box, and removed the toy immediately if Buster became over-excited or began to growl aggressively. We made sure we ate first and Buster ate after us. We became conscious of territorial issues, teaching Buster that we owned all the territory by kneeing him gently and issuing the command “Move”. The behaviourist also commented that Buster took up a central position in the room to monitor our comings and goings, so occasionally we restricted this by short periods of crate-training.
We were aware of height. Any jumping up was corrected immediately by kneeing him gently whilst saying “OFF”, ignoring him and not making eye contact. We also ensured that we were the first and he was the last to go through doorways. We did not allow Buster to become over-excited so, sadly, the competitive, cheeky games of chase had to go as they were encouraging Buster to issue challenges and gave him practice in accomplishing this.
Perhaps the most important lesson was becoming aware of clear, calm communication, commands being limited to one or two words followed by immediate praise when followed through. Timing and consistency were crucial.
In retrospect we feel a combination of circumstances were to blame for Buster’s fiery adolescence. Firstly he is a naturally strong-willed, perhaps dominant dog (and we did not know how to train him properly). Secondly we waited 4 months before we were given a place at the recommended dog-training classes. Thirdly these classes taught only basic obedience and were not tailored for any individually challenging canine temperament. Fourthly Buster suffered 2 attacks of pancreatitis, one very serious which resulted in 4 days’ hospitalisation, after which he, understandably, probably received too much attention. Fifthly, and perhaps most importantly, his need to control stemmed from his fear of being left in a home constantly being disrupted by building works for a period of 5 months.
My favorite toy!
cont. Interestingly, a forum friend commented on the similarity between dogs and autistic children, both sometimes showing distress at the slightest changes in environment.
We were also unable to establish a routine for Buster. His Schnauzer-ish sensitivity probably picked up on our frustrations at the builder’s persistent absence.
Today Buster is obedient, happy, mischievous, affectionate and oozes character.
We hardly recognise the dog described earlier in this article. We are particularly grateful to friendships made via the Forum. Had Diane not mailed Liz every single day with words of encouragement and support, Buster may sadly, and unthinkably now, have ended up in rescue. It was a great joy for Buster and Dexter to meet recently and for us to witness Buster’s impeccable behaviour.
And the Raggies? Well, they never gave a damn and have given all of us lessons in chilling!
My characteristics
Energy
Intelligence
Friendliness
Playfulness
Disposition
Eating Habits
Leave a Comment
5 Written on 2008-09-17 14:44:18 Menna
Wow, what a baptism of fire you had with your first dog! All power to you for persevering though - very well done!!
5 Written on 2008-03-10 10:25:42 (DE)GABY
Thank you me, as your friend have chosen. As a thank-you, we have a large bone cleverly. Henry