Canine Behavior/Sad bichon

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Expert: Lee Charles Kelley - 1/28/2008


Question
I have a male bichon, a year old, had him since a puppy.  Got his 1/2 sister a couple of months after him.  She seems happy and playful.  The male, Teddy (both are neutered) is most of the time mopey, and looks very sad all the time.  He doesn't like to play as much as she does and mostly sits around. He will play with her occasionally and is a very good guard dog, in fact, he barks at everything. He's been to the vet and doesn't have any health issues.  He just looks very sad most of the time.  And I don't know why.  It makes me sad thinking something is bothering him, but I don't know what.  He gets just as must attention as she does, but he is more quiet and reserved than she is.

Answer
Hi, Lynn,

Thanks for the question.

I'm sorry to hear that your male bichon seems unhappy. It could be that you're projecting those feelings onto him. He may be just more casual about life than his sister, and not morose at all.

On the other hand, the fact that he's less playful than she is gives me the feeling that he does need help learning how to play. (He may have had his playful impulses stifled when he was younger--simply telling him "No bite!" could've done it.)

Here are a couple of links that may be helpful to you and your little guy:

http://www.tiny.cc/jumpstart

http://www.tiny.cc/playbenefits

The first shows ways to jump start your dog's "prey drive," which is the basic energy source behind the desire to play. The second describes why play is so important to dogs.

Another little trick I like to use with dogs who are reluctant to play is a hand feeding exercise, which should be done outdoors.  You hold the food in one hand and put the other hand against the dog's chest. As he eats from your hand start to slowly and almost imperceptibly pull it toward you. This will "force" him to push into your other hand in order to obtain his meal.

Here's a link that describes this in more detail:

http://tinyurl.com/3balu6

Give both the jump starting exercises and the hand feeding exercise a few weeks, and if your doggie doesn't show some improvement, let me know.

LCK

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Lee Charles Kelley

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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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