Expert: Alan J Turner, SATS LL1 - 10/30/2006

Question
Hello
I have a 6 month old male long haired chihuahua.I have owned the puppy TEQUILA since he was 3 months old...he is the perfect dog for our family.  In the last couple of weeks I have notice that Tequila has started to be aggressive towards my husband and 17 year old son. Tequila is fine with myself and our younger son.Tequila is aggressive whenever he hears any of then coming in the room, he jumps of me and starts to chase and bark at them. The only thing that I do after this encounter is I call him back and he comes back to sit with me. I am not sure what to do! I was thinking of putting him in his pen every time that happens.( pen is the room that he sleeps at night) for a few minutes. Can you advise me if that would be the right thing to do.
Thank You  

Answer
Dear Lynne,
Thanks for the question. You are already so close to doing what I recommend (smile) – I prefer the sequence, Interrupt –Redirect-Praise!

I wouldn't use a time out for punishing (or reducing Tequila's reactive behaviors) just yet - because you haven't really taught him exactly what you would like him to do and exactly where he should do it. You haven't practiced the desirable behavior with no distractions, then with a small distraction, then with a bit more distraction, et cetera, until Tequila can succeed when the guys enter the room.

I never use a time out to teach a new behavior; I use it to punish non-compliance to an already-learned behavior or to “proof ” an already-learned behavior. I know, its sort of six of one and a half dozen of the other, but that line of thought always leads me to a path of teaching a specific behavior instead of punishing an infinite number of behaviors. If done correctly, the dog will understand that the time out is the result of non-compliance, so the dog knows exactly what he or she can do to avoid the time out. If I use the time out only as a punishment tool, the dog has no idea which behaviors are acceptable and which behaviors can be performed to avoid the time-out. I want to focus on increasing the wanted behaviors as opposed to decreasing unwanted behaviors. It is much more efficient.

You didn’t mention any aggressive behaviors directed towards the men in any other situations, so I’ll assume the behavior is isolated to their entry into the same area as Tequila.  

Tequilia's behavior towards the approaching men in your family could actually be exactly what he has been inadvertently trained to do by those men in your family. Have those two men played rough with Tequilia - as in using their hands to roll, toss, wrestle, tug et cetera? Do they play chase games, keep away games or "I'm gonna get you" games with Tequila? No matter if they have or haven't I'll give you some ideas for kindly reducing the behaviors.

I thought I'd mention it because many people actually teach their pups unwanted behaviors by the way that they interact and play. It's very innocent - people think they are playing with the dog and actually they are teaching the dog unwanted behaviors. People should play games like fetch, hide-n-seek, find-the xyz, trick training, obedience training et cetera.

Any time we use our hands or interact with our pups as other dogs or pups might, we are teaching them to interact with us as they would another pup. And we've all seen how pups play with each other - they attack, bark, chase, bite, et cetera!  

Here's how to get things on the right track. First, kindly prevent the behavior by distracting or removing or confining, or otherwise engaging your dog in another activity. This is a management tool, a short-term solution to prevent the behavior from being practiced in the short-term. All successful episodes of the unwanted behavior are fertilizer for the unwanted behavior.

This is my recipe for fixing any normal- but unwanted behaviors in the long-term. The sequence is INTERRUPT (kindly, via a physical barrier like an attached leash or with a command to perform another already learned behavior, like come or here) –REDIRECT (give the cue for the dog to perform a specific, already-learned behavior that is incompatible with the unwanted behavior)-PRAISE (deliver food, attention or touch).

Before you can apply this recipe, you should have a clear concept of your goals and you should prepare your dog for this exact situation. So, anytime you find yourself wanting to stop, punish or reduce any unwanted-but-normal behaviors, ask yourself these two questions.

Exactly what behavior would I like my dog to perform in this exact situation and exactly where would I like my dog to perform the wanted behavior?  Once you have the answers, you have your clear training goals. 1) Teach the dog to perform the desirable behavior (outside of the situation which triggers the behavior), a behavior which is incompatible with the unwanted behavior. Teach your dog to perform the incompatible behavior in a particular location that will make it less likely for your dog to be exposed to the triggers for the unwanted behavior.

For example, if your dog barks at people or jumps up on people that come into your home, you have several incompatible behaviors to choose from – prance around room with toy in mouth (great for retrievers and toy lovers), sit quietly and sniff the guests’ shoes (great for scent hounds), spin in  a circle ten feet from the door (great for terriers), go-to-place (great for sedate breeds), play fetch with a unique special toy that only “appears” when guests arrive (great for all retrievers and dogs), eat the frozen Kong-siscle which “appears” only when guests arrive) on a dog bed (great for all breeds), sit quietly ten feet from the door when the guests arrive (difficult for many  breeds!).

Now that you have clear goals, teach Tequila to perform the unwanted behavior (when he can succeed, not in the context of the approaching men). Have the men teach Tequila to fetch a unique, high value (from Tequila’s point of view) toy. The toy is only available when Tequila is playing with the men.

If Tequila does not know fetch, teach him trade-the-toy-for–a-reward – (no throwing it yet). Once he learns the trade game, then place the toy a foot or so away. He will fetch it - to trade for the treat.

Happy Training!
AT