Expert: Lee Charles Kelley - 10/15/2008

Question
Hi there.  Thank you for taking the time to read my question.  

My husband and I are fostering a small dog from a shelter until they find a home for him.  Most of the time he is nice, but we are having trouble with a couple of his behaviors.  It is important to note that he is deaf, so he does not respond to verbal commands.  

Our main problem is that he barks incessantly when he is annoyed or excited.  He gets annoyed when we try to make him do something he does not want to do.  For example, he is not allowed in the kitchen, and while this normally does not bother him, he barks constantly when I am cooking.  I think his previous owners must have fed him human food so he expects us to feed him from the kitchen or table and gets upset when we don't.  He also barks at us while we are eating.  Needless to say, this is pretty disruptive to our dinner conversation, to say the least.  While he doesn't mind being pet, he will try to bite if we touch him while he is in one of these frenzies.  Can you provide any advice on how to stop this terrible barking and snapping/biting? (He barks at night for as much as an hour when we go to bed because we do not let him into our bedroom.  Please note that I have provided him with a nice bed and have tried to reinforce that his bed is a safe, quiet place.)

He was returned from his first adoptive family and I would really love to help him by eliminating this behavior so that he can be a better dog for another adoptive parent.  

I have always had larger dogs who have been bonded to me and have been well behaved and disciplined.  They normally seek approval and do not want to disappoint.  Therefore, rewards and positive reinforcement have always worked well for me in the past.  I don't quite know how to handle this little dog that really does not seek approval from us and cannot hear verbal commands, but will bite us if we touch him.  Yikes!  Thanks for your feedback.

Answer
Hi, Lisa,

Thanks for the question.

This is a very difficult situation for both you and the dog. He's probably in shock from being moved around from one "home" to another.

Before I get to what you can do that I think might help, I want to point out a few things.

First of all, dogs don't seek our approval. That's a distinctly human mental construct. Don't get me wrong, I understand perfectly well what you mean when you say that (or I THINK I do). But here's the REAL difference between your other dogs and this little guy: when we praise a dog it changes his internal emotional state. It makes him feel good. That's because establishing social connections is as important to a dog's psyche as breathing is to his lungs. Praise makes a dog feeling more emotionally connected to his owner. That's where we get the idea that the dog wants to please us, or seeks our approval. And since this little guy is deaf, praise has no effect on his emotions the way it did with your other dogs. BUT HE STILL NEEDS TO ESTABLISH SOCIAL CONNECTIONS WITH YOU, just as he still needs to breathe.

Secondly, as I said up top, this little dog is in shock, and in fact may have PTSD. And just like a veteran's heart will race and he'll start to sweat and see his friends and family as a very real threat when he hears a car backfire, this little dog sees threats everywhere. And it doesn't matter how much you try to comfort him or calm him down, it doesn't get rid of the adrenaline that's running through his body. In fact, physical comfort is probably the second to last thing he needs right now. (The very last thing he needs is any sort of punishment.)

Now the questions: how much hard vigorous playful activity does he get every day? Are there any games he likes to play? Do you ever take him on long walks in nature, or at least in a nearby park? Does he ever get a chance to play or interact socially with other dogs? Can you take him for a long walk or give him a long play session before dinner (yours AND his), and before bedtime? Does he have free run of the house? Can you confine him in a crate if necessary?

I look forward to hearing back from you,

LCK
http://www.LeeCharlesKelley.com
“Changing the World, One Dog at a Time”