Difference between revisions of "Troubleshooting"

Revision as of 19:38, 28 January 2012

I want to preface this section with two caveats:

1. Dogs are not perfect. Nobody's dogs are perfect. When I first started getting into training, I thought that professional trainers' dogs must surely be impeccably behaved near-robots who never barked at strangers, always executed their cues with total precision on the first request, and probably didn't even shed. Yeah, no. Turns out they bark and blow off commands and leave hairballs everywhere, just like my mutts. Dogs are dogs. Expect them to act like it.
2. Most troubleshooting in foster care is about management. The dogs that come through WAGS generally do not have serious behavioral issues. Most of what you'll be dealing with is relatively simple stuff: chewing, counter surfing, nuisance barking, and so forth. These issues are best dealt with by not giving the dog a chance to practice bad behaviors, i.e., by managing his environment to keep him out of trouble. That's really all you have to do; nuisance behaviors tend to die out on their own if the dog doesn't have the chance to practice and get reinforced for them.

In the unlikely event that you end up with a dog whose issues go deeper than the basic problems discussed here, please consult with your foster coordinator. Severe fearfulness, aggression, or separation anxiety may warrant professional intervention and are certainly beyond the scope of what the average foster caregiver should be asked to handle. Under no circumstances should you have to keep a dog whose behavior puts you, your household, or the dog herself in danger.

Also, please do not hesitate to reach out if you are feeling overwhelmed by any problems. If they're causing you serious stress, they're not "minor" issues -- and please believe me when I say that it is much, much easier to intervene before a behavioral problem develops into a habit. It's never too early to ask for help if you have any cause for alarm.

You can always rely on the foster network for advice, help, or just to vent. We all love our foster furballs very much, but we also all recognize that they can be a giant pain in the ass sometimes.

With that in mind, here's a quick guide to troubleshooting some of the most common problems you may encounter.

• Barking
• Destructiveness
• House Soiling
• Jumping and Mouthing
• Resource Guarding
• Separation Anxiety

House Soiling

If you're following the protocol laid out in the Housebreaking section -- taking your foster dog out frequently, supervising her closely, and confining her to her crate for reasonable periods of time when you can't supervise -- but you're still having trouble with potty messes in the house, there may be something else going on.

Or not: puppies under about three or four months are notoriously messy, and adult dogs may still go through rough patches when they transition to a new place. Seniors are sometimes incontinent. Stress and abrupt dietary changes can cause diarrhea in dogs. But if it's been a week or more and your foster dog really should be able to handle himself, consider whether you might be facing one of the following issues.

Is there a medical problem? Incontinence frequently signals that there's something medically amiss. One of my foster dogs, who seemed previously to be progressing nicely in her potty training, suddenly started going diarrhea not only in the house, but in her crate. It turned out she had giardia. After she started on medication, the problem vanished. Another foster dog who had impeccable potty manners came down with diarrhea after snarfing some garbage while out on a walk. A 24-hour fast cured his ills. If your foster dog starts having accidents, and especially if those accidents involve diarrhea, try a 24-hour fast to rest his digestive system, and switch to a bland diet of rice, boiled chicken, and maybe a little canned pumpkin for a few days afterward. If that doesn't do the trick, a visit to the vet may be in order.

(Note: If your foster dog is a puppy under three months of age, diarrhea may indicate something much more serious than indigestion. Sadly, many dogs are not vaccinated against parvo or distemper in the regions that WAGS pulls from. While your foster puppy will have been fully vaccinated and subjected to a 10- to 14-day quarantine before being transported north, there is still a small chance that she might have been exposed to one of these pathogens en route or after arrival. If your foster puppy appears to be in major distress within a few days of arrival, please contact your foster coordinator immediately.)

Is it submissive urination? Are the accidents limited to small amounts of urine? Are they accompanied by appeasement gestures (rolling over onto the belly, averted gaze, cowering, etc.)? Do they generally occur when you reach for her quickly, approach the dog by looming or reaching over her head, and/or seem to be angry? If so, you may be dealing with submissive urination rather than an actual potty training mistake. Do not correct the dog for submissive urination. You'll just frighten her and make the problem worse.

Submissive urination is very common among shy dogs and puppies. Fortunately, it often resolves on its own as the dog becomes more comfortable in her new surroundings. Dealing with it is a combination of management (keep the dog on easily-cleaned surfaces, try to avoid triggers like looming over her or speaking to her in a loud voice) and building up her confidence with reassurance, gentle petting, and positive training exercises. You may also find it helpful to put the dog in canine diapers as a temporary measure.

Is it urine marking? If your foster dog is an intact adult male, or a male who was neutered late in life, and he's primarily spraying urine on raised objects or vertical surfaces, your problem may be urine marking. This is not the same behavior as house soiling -- it's driven by stress, anxiety, and/or a desire to anoint himself Top Dog and all sprayed areas as his personal fiefdom -- but you correct it in a similar fashion. Interrupt him and take him outside when you catch him in the act, supervise him closely indoors, restrict his freedom when you can't watch him, and be super vigilant about cleaning up messes with an odor neutralizer, since scenting another dog's urine (or his own) often motivates an extra squirt of urine in response. Canine diapers may help here, too.

Jumping and Mouthing

Jumping and mouthing are two separate behaviors -- there are dogs who jump at you in greeting without mouthing, and there are dogs (especially puppies) who are very mouthy in play without jumping -- but they often occur simultaneously, they both derive from uncontrolled excitement, and they're both addressed in similar fashion, so I'll cover them together here.

Dogs usually jump and mouth because they're excited to see you (which is why this behavior so often occurs when you get home from work) and want to reach/lick your face. It's an exuberant greeting behavior, and in a way it's a good problem to have, because it indicates that your foster dog is delighted to see you, so your bonding efforts have met with some success. But it's still pretty annoying and it's not likely to endear your foster dog to prospective adopters, especially if he's a big dog, so you should take steps to correct it without damaging your relationship with the dog. Don't punish him for being happy to see you.

The solution to jumping and mouthing behavior is to withdraw your attention completely the instant your dog starts to rear up. Stand up, cross your arms, and turn your back on the dog. If he comes around your side and tries to jump on you again, turn again. You might have to spin in slow-motion circles, but keep your back turned on the dog, don't make eye contact, and keep your arms folded (this prevents your hands from being a target -- many dogs will nip at your hands in an effort to get your attention, and that in and of itself can be enough fun to keep them going). Ignore him utterly.

When your dog finally settles down, reward him with gentle, soothing words and praise. If he offers a Sit, that's awesome! If he has all four feet on the floor, that's good enough -- you can shape him to an even more polite Sit later. It is likely that when you finally deign to pay attention to him, that will be so thrilling that he'll start jumping and mouthing again, which means you have to deliver another dose of the silent treatment. But each episode should be shorter than the last, and eventually (which may be a long eventually, if your foster pup is an excitable high-energy dog or has a long history of being reinforced for this behavior in the past) the polite Sit will become his default greeting.

If your dog is mouthy but not necessarily jumpy -- a common problem with puppies who like to play in this manner and have sharp little baby teeth -- then troubleshooting involves a slight variation on the same theme. Whenever the puppy's teeth come in contact with your skin, even if there's very little pressure, say "Ouch!" loudly and act like you were actually hurt. Stop playing immediately and ignore the dog, standing up with arms folded if necessary to get your point across. Wait for the puppy to offer some calm, conciliatory behavior, then praise and reward him for that.

It might take a while, but responding as outlined above should discourage and eventually extinguish jumping and mouthing behaviors.

Separation Anxiety