Behavioral therapy for dogs consists of various components that together form a total package. To start with, an extensive intake interview takes place to get a picture of the dog itself, the history, the undesirable behavior, and the circumstances in which this presents itself. This first consultation often takes 1.5 to 2 hours.

If necessary, video recordings are made to further study the behavior and specific behavioral tests are administered. Based on this, the behavioral therapist establishes a diagnosis and a therapy that is tailored to each individual owner-dog combination. The owner is well and clearly informed and guided so that he can get started with motivation. In consultation with the owner, the progress is evaluated and further adjusted if necessary.

What is Behavioral Therapy

Behavioral therapy, therefore, focuses primarily on the origin of the undesired behavior. Problem behavior is best solved by tackling its cause and not just treating its symptoms.

Of course, this is not always an option. Insufficient socialization cannot be undone by therapy. The therapist can try to improve the dog’s behavior in such a way that the problem becomes manageable. A behavior therapist cannot change anything about genetic predisposition, but in consultation with the owner it is possible to look for possibilities to use the property present in the dog in a different way.

The behavior is then reversed, but not trained away. With these kinds of problems, it is of course important that the owner remains constantly alert. As soon as the adjustment of the undesirable behavior is stopped, the dog will sooner or later revert to its old behavior.

Learned unwanted behavior

When there is learned undesired behavior, it is possible to permanently change this. Here too, the cause of the origin of the problem and the cause of the dog’s persistence in its behavior is again the first puzzle to be solved. It is not always easy to solve that puzzle, but that is precisely the challenge that you do not have to take on yourself; that is a challenge for the behavioral therapist.

Yet behavioral therapy for the owner is just as challenging, because it is not easy for the owner, especially in the first weeks. Suddenly a daily routine has to be completely turned around and everything that has happened so unconsciously until now has to become a thing of the past; every action towards the dog must be thought through. All this is often not easy at all. However, for the dog. He usually picks up on the changes very quickly. They are changes that are made in a language he understands all too well: dog language.

In consultation with the owner, the behavioral therapist can decide to support the therapy with aids. Many aids have now been developed, all of which have their own good qualities. For example, think of the Gentle Leader, the Follow Me or the MasterPlus; all animal-friendly aids with which good results are achieved. Sometimes a blockage has to be removed from the dog first.

Consider, for example, fear. We humans may be of the opinion that there is no reason to fear the dog, but that does not take away the fear in the dog. As a result, he may not be open to new impressions, rendering the therapy meaningless. With the support of Bach Flower Remedies, this blockage can be removed.

fear of failure

In addition, it may be that a dog only thinks it can fail, just like the owner who has already tried everything without success. In such a case it is important for both to be able to do good and to be rewarded for doing so. With the clicker – which is only used to teach things and not to unlearn things – certain problem behaviors can be retrained into new behaviors that are incompatible with the problem behavior.

The clicker quickly shows results and is therefore particularly motivating for both the boss and the dog. The interaction between the two does the rest. In some cases, you can also choose the discs. This teaches the dog that certain undesired behavior that he wants to exhibit, no reward and therefore will not produce the desired result. This removes the motivation for this behavior, so that the unwanted behavior will disappear.

Problem behavior in dogs

Despite all the good care of you as owner and despite the fact that you have indeed followed an obedience course, it is possible that the dog still shows undesirable behavior. When you, or those around you, experience this unwanted behavior as a problem, you have problem behavior.

Examples of this are:

• Disobedience
• Fear (of thunder, fireworks, cars, etc.)
• Can’t be home alone
• Chasing joggers, cyclists, cars
• Aggressive behavior towards food or objects
• Aggressive behavior towards other people and/or dogs

Many owners then try all sorts of things to remedy this problem behavior. Well-intentioned advice from friends and acquaintances is followed, but often without the desired result. Incorrect assessment of the seriousness of the situation often plays a major role in this. Despite all the measures taken, the dog persists in its problematic behavior. In some cases, the unwanted behavior even appears to be reinforcing. The measures taken have then in fact only led to a rewarding factor, which is generally so strong that it is perceived by the dog as more important than the punishment it has received for its behavior up to that point.

Thus, the dog may have dog problems which, if they are not dealt with adequately, can make it a problem dog. It is therefore a good thing, if the dog exhibits undesirable behavior that is experienced as a problem, to call in the expertise of a behavioral therapist. It is wise not to wait too long before calling in this expert, because the sooner a problem is tackled, the greater the chance of success.

Leaving your ear to the well-intentioned advice of other dog owners in your area for half a year is generally half a year of maintaining or even exacerbating the unwanted behavior, while this half year could already have been used to tackle the problems .

puppies

Even puppies, even if they come from a recognized breeder, can show behavioral problems. When the puppy is about eight weeks old, the learning process has played a major role, but not yet played a major role, so there could be a biological cause. If you, as the owner, suspect abnormalities in your puppy’s behavior, it is a good idea to call in a behavioral therapist as soon as possible.

The sooner action is taken, the better. Depending on the breeder, a puppy that is not collected until after twelve weeks may have a lack of socialization. Of course there are breeders who know their responsibilities very well and who spare themselves neither time nor effort to sufficiently socialize a dog that due to circumstances stays a little longer. Unfortunately, it also happens very often that breeders are less conscientious about their puppies.

Pups that stay a little longer are often kept a bit afterwards in the hope that a buyer will come soon. These puppies are not taken outside enough to meet different kinds of people, children and other kinds of dogs, traffic and everything they will have to deal with for the rest of their lives. In addition, there are unfortunately always the so-called “bread breeders”, where the puppies stay in sheds and lofts and do not actually come out until the moment of sale.

These puppies, with a poor to very poor socialization, are not easy to convert into social family dogs; they are disabled. There may even be a kennel syndrome. In that case, the dog is no longer open to its surroundings at all and lives in a hell, as it were. Sometimes, however, it is still possible to make up for the damage step by step, but that requires a lot of patience, time and craftsmanship.

In the case of a very poor socialization, it is not always possible to guarantee in advance whether a therapy will be successful. It is then up to the owner to consider whether he can and wants to invest a lot of extra time in the dog, without guarantee of results. It is also possible that you meet a puppy out of thousands, who behaves well, but who has a traumatic experience. You will often not notice anything about the puppy at first.

Nevertheless, there is a good chance that after a few months he suddenly turns out to have a phobia. For example, if your puppy has been attacked and bitten by another dog, it is a good idea to give him therapy with a behaviorist to prevent possible problems in the future.

Adult dogs

It is often the adult dogs for which a behavior therapist is called in. Of course this includes dogs that are taken from the shelter and that have the necessary scars from dealing with their previous owner. In those cases, intensive re-education comes into play. But it also concerns dogs that have been with their owner from the start.

Sometimes it concerns dogs in whom problem behavior suddenly arises at a later age. The cause often lies in a shocking event, such as moving house or the loss of a family member to whom the dog was particularly attached. Other times, it concerns dogs that gradually developed the problem behavior. Because the owner has never really noticed certain behavior of the dog, has always ignored it, has not corrected properly or has hoped that it would go away on its own, behavior can slowly but surely arise that is experienced as a problem.

Again, the sooner action is taken, the better. This does not alter the fact that many adult dogs, even if they have been causing problems for a very long period of time, are capable of surprising improvements. When we as humans get under the skin of the dog and thus start to think like a dog, we can learn to “understand” the dog and we can adequately “tell” him what we do and do not expect from him.

Dogs generally respond quickly and positively to this. If there is more clarity for the dog, there will also be more relaxation for him. At first, the owner only comes with effort, but soon he will be rewarded for this effort when he can see the improvement in his dog’s behavior.

Of course one problem is not the other and it will often depend on the cause of the problem behavior and the way in which it has been dealt with, how quickly results can be achieved. For example, if his unwanted behavior has always brought something to the dog, you will achieve results faster than it was only once. In some cases, the behavioral therapist will also draw the owner’s attention to the fact that certain undesirable behavior will first increase in intensity, then weaken and disappear completely.

In any case, every improvement stands or falls with the efforts and possibilities of the owner. After all, he is the one who has to do it – under the expert guidance of the behavioral therapist, of course.

Older dogs

That behavior therapy for older dogs is pointless may be referred to the land of fables. Undesirable behavior in older dogs that have been showing this for many years is of course ingrained and cannot or can hardly be remedied anymore, but it is possible to look at dealing with these ingrained problems as well as possible. A behavioral therapist can give valuable tips and advice and help everything in the right direction by means of dog-friendly aids.

There may also be an older dog that has to be transferred due to family circumstances, for example. Such a transfer is not easy for an older dog. His environment and routine were completely familiar to him and he will miss his previous home for a long time. If they come out of the shelter and have had to experience a lot of stress there in their old age, that also has its influence. If an older dog has difficulty with a transfer, whether or not from a shelter, and develops problem behavior as a result, it is certainly useful to call in a behavior therapist.

Just in case there is no transfer at all, we often see an older dog becoming part of the furniture. He does not immediately demand attention and sometimes gets it less and less or not at all. This can cause dogs to become depressed. They may also suddenly develop separation anxiety or show senility symptoms at a later age. This then manifests itself in asking to be let out while they have just returned, not knowing their way any more, living in a “little world of their own”.

The older dog also undergoes quite a few changes physically, which are not all equally easy. For example, they may need to be let out more often because their bladder and bowels are not functioning as well. When an older dog starts to show behavioral problems, it is therefore advisable to call in a behavior therapist. With an objective view of things, he can often put his finger on the sore spot and give advice that both the owner and the dog themselves can use.

Education versus action

When training, you gradually teach the dog something in a positive way. For every piece of an exercise that the dog performs well, he is rewarded and that way you achieve the desired result. So you teach the dog to show certain behavior when you ask for it. Parenting, on the other hand, has to do with social rules.

This applies to both dogs and humans. You can teach a child to read and write at school. Then you talk about education, but if the child then starts writing all kinds of protective words on the wallpaper, the aspect of upbringing comes up for discussion. You will have to let the child know that some things are acceptable and others are not.

The same goes for dogs. Education is therefore about setting boundaries. This is allowed and that is not allowed. In order to discover those boundaries, dogs will often first cross them once. That is the moment when the dog must be made known where exactly the boundary is. Communication is therefore of great importance. We cannot require our dogs to speak our language, but we can master their language.