Dog to Dog Aggression Part 3: Shay’s Story Continued
Shay’s other aggression problem was a direct result of her becoming jealous of my interacting with Shilo instead of her. I know a lot of people debate if dogs can really feel jealousy. Call it what you want, but that was the way I saw it. I have included a short report on some research done on this topic.
Dogs are capable of feeling a basic form of jealousy, according to a study published in the PLOS ONE scientific journal. Science News
The research, said to be the first experiment on canine jealousy, could redefine the view that the complex emotion of envy is a human construct, said Christine Harris, University of California, San Diego psychologist and an author of the study.”
Shay attacked Shilo in my barn. The dogs both hung out with me while I did chores. Shay was wandering around, but not too far away. Shilo was closer to me, so I decided to have Shilo do a down on command. Shilo had struggled when I first got her when it came to sitting or laying down on command. Some would say she had a stubborn nature, due to the fact she was part Chesapeake Bar Retriever. When Shilo complied to my command, I gave her a treat, along with some very sincere praise and a pet. As soon as I straighten and took a step backwards, Shay rushed over and attacked Shilo. Of course, Shilo defended herself, and I had an all-out fight on my hands. Fortunately, I was able to break things up without any of us sustaining injury. Before this incident, both dogs got along very well making such an intense attack a surprise.
My conclusion was that Shay got jealous about me working with Shilo, especially since I’d given affection and praise. It appeared that Shay wanted to be the only dog I cared about. I had to get this dog to change a basic concept about who possessed who.
Since food was also involved in this attack, I had just given Shilo a treat for her compliance, I decided to start my reform training with Shay using food rewards. The first part of the training was to do the watch command. I’ve covered my preferred way to train the watch in both my book “Rescue Your Dog from Fear” and my one of my classes on Fear and Aggression.
I feel with the watch command that instead of just teaching the dog to look when I say “watch” I want the dog to choose to look at me, especially when the dog wants something. For that reason, I teach the dog to make eye contact both when I say the word “watch,” and when I hold a treat out sideways that the dog wants. The training, which requires the dog to choose to look at me when the dog wants something, makes this training more of a Premack approach.
I have found this approach to training the watch command very valuable when building compliance in a dog who struggles with compliance. Ironically, although Shay would comply all day long to a sit or down command, she struggled with the concept of possessions, and it appeared that she saw me as a possession. Since she wanted me as her possession, she didn’t want to share certain my affection with Shilo. Shay needed to learn that I controlled the affection she got, not her.
The second part of the training was to teach the Shay to “leave-it” and “get-it” on command. There are different ways to train this. My choice for training this is to teach the dog how to respond to a “leave-it” command when the dog is already trying to do a task the dog already wants to do, such as in the process of pursuing a treat I just tossed. I feel this kind of training helps a lot with impulse control. Shay was a quick study for both of these lesson.
When it was time to work these two dogs together, I had Shilo sit and stay nearby. I then did a practice of the watch and leave-it commands with Shay. After attaching a leash to Shay, I situated the dogs so that one was on each side of me, but at an angle so they were facing me. I again practiced the watch and leave-it commands with Shay. After putting Shay back into position, I told her “leave-it,” then reached out and handed a treat to Shilo. Any movement on Shay’s part was addressed by quickly stepping between the two dogs and asking Shay to “watch” me. When Shay looked at me, she received praise and a treat.
Shay took several practices with this kind of a drill for her to stop looking so disturbed about me handing over a treat to Shilo. I did try and help what looked like distress on Shay’s part by talking to her in an encouraging and calm tone. In the beginning, one or two acceptances of this feeding pattern was all I asked for. Afterward, I’d give Shay some affection for good behavior. After the training, I took both dogs for a short walk since they both liked this relaxing activity.
It took several sessions for Shay to begin to accept my feeding pattern. When Shay accepted me feeding Shilo first, I began to add praise to Shilo. Once Shay accepted me doing that, I added giving Shilo some affection. By breaking down each action into separate training, Shay was finally able to accept that I could give another dog the affection that Shay wanted to possess. As an added bonus, the additional training to resolve her jealousy issues also progress her food possessiveness from tolerating a dog eating nearby to the point where Shay could actually share food. The picture below shows how Shay learned to accept eating side-by-side with Shilo.
When the day finally came to re-home Shay, I knew I had to find owners who understood a sensitive and more complex dog. Most of Shay’s life had been spent with too much mistrust of people, and too many different homes. Shay needed the right family to continue the changes I’d made in the dog. Those people turned out to be Sue and John Ames. One of the most amazing things about their first meeting with Shay was how she warmed up to them right away, especially John. With my husband, it took a long time for Shay to feel comfortable with him.
Sue and John became Shay’s forever home. Her owners described Shay as energetic, playful, and very expressive. They commented that Shay was interactive in a very intelligent way, and more sensitive to their moods and attitude than any other dog. I always love it when one of my fosters finds her perfect forever home.