Canine Behavior/Chow mix

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Expert: Lee Charles Kelley - 1/23/2008


Question
We have a chow mix that is a very sweet dog.He appears to be extremely afraid of me coughing,or breathing heavily.Anyone else in the house can cough,make loud noises,breath heavily...but if I do, he has exhibited some really strange behaviors.He will do one or more of the following things...Go upstairs and hide,come over to me and try to climb on my lap{he weighs 70 lbs},go over to another member of the household to be comforted...It is the strangest thing..It is not good if I have a cold!!!
I have never done anything to this dog,trust me,,,and we have had him since he was a puppy.His sister is also in the house and doesn't display any of these behaviors.

Have you ever heard of anything like this?

Answer
Hi, Irene,

I have no idea what's going on, but I were you, I would go to the doctor and have my lungs checked, just to be sure that the pooch isn't sensing some developing illness.

I'm telling you this because I was working with a Rottweiler last summer who liked to lick me excessively. I thought it was just a nervous behavior, but my clients suggested that I have my blood sugar levels checked. They said that the dog only licked people like that if they were either diabetic, or pre-diabetic. I finally followed their advice, and found out that my blood sugar levels were indeed too high. I changed my diet, and thanks to that sweet Rottie girl I'm feeling much better.

Mind you, I hope there's another explanation for your dog's behavior, but this is the first thing that comes to my mind, especially since he isn't bothered by other members of the household coughing or sneezing, etc.

I'd love to hear back that I was being an alarmist about this!

LCK

Canine Behavior

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Lee Charles Kelley

Expertise

I've been training dogs in New York City for nearly 20 years. My training approach and philosophy are based on the way police dogs, search-and-rescue dogs, and detection dogs are trained--through the prey drive, inherited from the wolf. It's true that there's been a shift away from using the "wolf model" in dog training recently, and to some extent, there's a good reason. That's because trainers have been using the wrong model, the one that says you have to be the "alpha" or the pack leader in order to control your dog's behavior. This simply isn't true. In wild wolves there is no dominance hierarchy, no "alpha" wolf, and no pack leader (not in the traditional sense). The pack instinct only exists to enable wolves to hunt large prey by working in harmony. (Wolves who live near garbage dumps, for example, and who don't hunt together, don't form packs.) So if wolves don't have an instinct to "follow the pack leader" or "obey the alpha wolf," how could dogs have inherited it from them?

Years ago, before I became a dog trainer, I noticed that the happiest, most obedient, and best-behaved dogs I met weren't the ones who'd been to a dog trainer or behaviorist; they were the dogs whose owners always had Frisbees and tennis balls on hand. And while it might seem that my approach would only be relevant to high-drive dogs who love fetch and tug-of-war, it isn't. Even something as seemingly unrelated as a housebreaking issue or greeting behavior are often the direct result of a dog's predatory energy not having an acceptable outlet.

All behavior is an expression of energy. So when a dog's energy isn't utilized in a way that feels satisfying to his or her instincts and emotions, that's when behavioral problems develop. Giving the dog an acceptable outlet for its energy will almost always bring the dog's behavior back into alignment with its instincts

Feel free to ask me questions about any training/behavioral issue.

LCK

Experience

20 years as a dog trainer. I'm also a bestselling author, writing a series of dog-related mystery novels for Avon.

Organizations
Dog Writers Association of America

Education/Credentials
Just a natural gift I have for understanding and training dogs

Past/Present Clients
Too numerous to mention.

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