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142
pages
English
Ebooks
2007
Écrit par
Carol Lea Benjamin
Publié par
Turner Publishing Company
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142
pages
English
Ebook
2007
Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage
Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne En savoir plus
Publié par
Date de parution
31 août 2007
Nombre de lectures
0
EAN13
9780470253281
Langue
English
Poids de l'ouvrage
1 Mo
Publié par
Date de parution
31 août 2007
Nombre de lectures
0
EAN13
9780470253281
Langue
English
Poids de l'ouvrage
1 Mo
DOG PROBLEMS
ALSO BY CAROL LEA BENJAMIN
Dog Training For Kids
Dog Tricks, Teaching Your Dog to be
Useful, Fun and Entertaining
Mother Knows Best, The Natural Way
to Train Your Dog
Second-Hand Dog, How to Turn Yours
Into a First-Rate Pet
and
Cartooning for Kids
Writing for Kids
Running Basics
The Wicked Stepdog, a novel
Nobody s Baby Now, a novel
C arol L ea B enjamin
DOG PROBLEMS
A P rofessional Tr ainer s G uide to P reventing and C orrecting : A ggression , D estructiveness , H ousebreaking P roblems , E xcessive B arking , D ogfights , T ugging , J umping , S hyness , S tealing , B egging , C ar C hasing , F ear B iting , O bject G uarding, and much, much more .
Copyright 1989 by Carol Lea Benjamin
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher.
Howell Book House
Macmillan Publishing Company
866 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022
Collier Macmillan Canada, Inc.
1200 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 200
Don Mills, Ontario M3C 3N1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Pubfication Data
Benjamin, Carol Lea.
Dog problems: a professional trainer s guide to preventing aggression.../Carol Lea Benjamin.-2nd ed.
p.cm.
Reprint. Originally published: Garden City, N.Y. Doubleday, 1981.
Includes index.
Summary: Gives instructions on how to train a pet dog for desirable behavior patterns and how to avoid and correct bad habits.
ISBN: 978-1-62045-751-1
I. Dogs-Training. [1. Dogs-Training.] I. Title. SF431.B418 1989 636.7 0887-oc 19 88-38076
Portions of this book previously appeared in the magazine Purebred Dogs/American Kennel Gazette . 1979, 1980 Purebred Dogs/ American Kennel Gazette .
Some of the illustrations appeared previously in Pure-bred Dogs-American Kennel Gazette September 1981, September, October, November and December 1987, May, June 1988 and in Dogs U.S.A. October 1986. The drawings in the Appendix appeared previously in Second-Hand Dog - How to Turn Yours Into a First-Rate Pet.
Macmillan books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, or educational use. For details, contact:
Special Sales Director
Macmillan Publishing Company
866 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
10 9 8 7
Printed in the United States of America
For Stephen, my sweetheart-
HUGS AND KISSES
to the following good people:
Mordecai Siegal and family, Victoria, T.J., Ida and Jasper,
Kenneth Marden, president of the American Kennel Club,
Sean Frawley, president of Howell Book House,
Uncle Bill Scolnik,
Seymour Weiss, Micky Niego, Richard Tomita, Lyle Goodnow, DVM, Sidney Chapman Mihls,
My agent, William Reiss, my sister, Mimi Kahn, my husband, Stephen Lennard, and our kids, Victoria Halboth and Jenny Lennard.
And for Judith Nelson, the world s biggest hug.
This book has been checked from the point of view of health and safety by Dr. Alfred Grossman, Murray Hill Animal Hospital, New York City. My gratitude to Dr. Grossman for his time and effort.
A special hug for Ollie, too. Still missing you, Red.
Contents
1. A Pound of Prevention
2. People and Dogs in Trouble
3. Housebreaking
4. Larceny-Petty and Grand
5. Begging, Tugging, Jumping, Sneaking Up on Furniture, Dogs in Bed
6. Problems of Aggression
7. Shyness, Nervousness, Hyperactivity and Fear
8. The Noisy Dog
9. Destructiveness
10. Transitions: Helping Your Dog Muddle Through Major Changes in Your Life and His
11. Multiple Dogs-Multiple Problems
12. Carsickness and Other Car-Related Problems
13. Bits and Pieces: Almost Everything Else You Need to Know
14. Problems With Other People s Dogs
15. Problems of Loss-When You Cannot Keep Your Dog, When Your Dog Dies
16. The Problem-Free Canine
Appendix-Basic Obedience Training
Index
DOG PROBLEMS
Animals are such agreeable friends-they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.
-George Eliot, Mr. Gilfih Love-Story
1
A Pound of Prevention
Never use a hatchet to remove a fly from the forehead of a friend.
-old Chinese proverb
P roblem P revention T hrough U nderstanding Y our D og s N ature
Human nature being what it is, and dogs being as clever as they are, it is fair to assume that, for as long as man has been dwelling with dogs, some dogs have discovered how to gain and keep the upper hand. This doesn t happen because they don t love us. It doesn t happen because they are, by nature, mean. It happens because, like wolves, they are pack animals, and it is an integral part of the nature of a pack animal to rise to the highest level he can.
A pack is a group of animals that live together, each dependent on the others for survival. In the wild, the pack provides protection, companionship, mates, baby-sitters for offspring, comrades for the hunt. There is a fierce loyalty within the pack and each member has a strong affection for the others. There is but one leader, usually a male, and until he is deposed by a stronger, smarter wolf, he calls the shots. Often the leader is the only male to mate. The female he chooses, the best around, will be the leader of the female sub-pack. He and she may mate for life.
This arrangement, made without any help from man, eliminates the possibility of overpopulation, of weak, sickly offspring, of starvation. Left to their own devices, the wolves maintain the balance of nature. Since usually only the best wolves breed, the health, strength and survival of the pack are well ensured.
Like his wild brother, the dog, too, is programmed for pack living. He must lead or be led. There is neither democracy nor anarchy in the canine world. A lone wolf cannot long survive; a dog without other dogs can, because he joins a family grouping of another species-a people pack. His dinner will be provided so that he needs no companions for the hunt. You will supply a mate if he is to have one and you will help care for the young. You will protect him when he is little and, in turn, he will protect you when he is grown. His affection will come from you. His love and loyalty will be yours in return. Who needs the wild?
On his own, he would not survive. He is no longer a creature of the wild. He has been domesticated-changed by selective breeding to suit the needs and desires of man. He will not be monogamous in his mating. The bitch will come into heat twice as often as her wild sister. No worries about overpopulation now. That s our headache. No longer will he be able to pick and choose his mate. No longer will he be free to roam and hunt. He s got roots now-and you may be more interested in tracing his than your own. His companionship, more often than not, will come from humans rather than from those of his own kind. While he craves and needs the company of other dogs, he will give his fiercest loyalty to a human being.
Some of his pack instincts, such as the protection of territory, will endear him to his new pack, thus ensuring his survival. Others, such as fighting over food, may sometimes cost him his life-that is, if the fight is with you or your children. His nature as a pack animal can be your biggest plus or his greatest minus. If leadership falls to him instead of you, you ve got yourself a dog problem. If you take command, his penchant to follow a strong leader, an instinct which remains intact through domestication, can be the happy instrument by which you train him and take, once and for all, the upper hand.
Since your dog must have a leader, dear friend, you are elected-unless you want a dog to run the show at your house. It s really very simple. If he takes over, bullies you or bites you, he won t do it because he s perverted or disturbed, or because he doesn t love you. If he does it, he will do it because he is a pack animal with pack instincts. He will do it because he is a dog and something in him demands fulfillment of ancient programming. The drum beat he marches to has not changed much in thousands of years.
Since the dog is not built to live without a leader, what happens when this is the case? Being orderly by design, he seeks to end the chaos and anxiety caused by living in a manner incongruent with his nature-so he applies for the job himself. Making his stand with creatures of his own kind, he quickly finds out, with a growl, a push, a shove, a display of fangs and hackles, a strut on his toes, a step out of line, who the smartest, strongest dog really is.
Vying occasionally, even with you, for a higher position in the pack is part of the work of being a dog. Don t take it personally. When there s something important he wants to do, or when you ve let your guard down for too long, or if you ve set no limits or standards of behavior for him at all, he may try to juggle around the pecking order. More than likely, he ll do it without guns and tanks. His first display may be very subtle-a failure to come when called, a gentle nip, a small, almost inaudible rumble in his throat when you approach his dish, a sprinkle of urine on the side of your Bloomingdale s couch. If you let it go by, he ll continue. It s anyone s guess where it will end. That will depend on how assertive he is and how often you turn your back on his attempt to do anything he can get away with.
Long before tossing his hat in the ring, he ll have noted your strengths and weaknesses, your ability to be firm, your inconsistencies. In fact, shortly after joining your pack, your dog became the world s leading authority on you. His dependent position makes him observe you well. He s also well equipped to do so because he was raised in a different way than human beings.
Chances are, if you were raised like most people, your mother didn t break her neck to rush and comfort you every time you fussed or cried. You might have been fed on a schedule-and toilet-trained on one to boot. You don t have to