The Myth about ‘Bad’ Dogs

 

There is still a name for dogs not behaving the way we like. We call them bad dogs. When a dog is showing behaviour that is not socially acceptable, labelled a bad dog.  

But are there actually bad dogs out there or is that just something we were told? 

When looking at dog behaviour and understanding dog communication, we learn there is no such thing as a bad dog. Dogs have different ways of showing how they feel. They express these emotions through body language, vocals and actions.

When a dog is scared and crouches down with its tail between its legs, we all get that feel of feeling sorry for the dog. We allow the dog to have those feelings. We want to hug this dog and make him feel loved.

But what about the others:

The dog who eats your furniture when you are out the house.

The dog who pees in the house.

The dog who lunges.

The dog who doesn’t come when called.

The dog who constantly barks.

The dog who growls at children.

The dog who bites.

Why are these bad dogs?

We have a certain expectation when we think of dogs living in our families. We want to take them everywhere, meet everyone and always behave in every situation. We don’t want them to burst our bubble by expression aggressive displays which involves barking, showing teeth, lunging, growling. We don’t want them to ruin our houses when we leave them alone. We want the perfect dog that we were promised through advertisements and movies.

Sadly, this is not reality. Dogs have emotions just like us. But since they don’t speak our language and we don’t speak theirs, we need to find a balance. We need to understand what it is they are trying to tell us when they act in a ‘bad’ way.

The reason might surprise you.

While we might comfort the dog, who shows classic signs of fear, dogs can also express these emotions in other ways. The dog who lunges towards other dogs, might be stressed and scared. When a dog is scared, survival mode goes on and this means that the dog will either fight or flight the situation he sees as a threat. Whether this is a person, dog or event.

Dogs who are fearful of strangers might bark and show teeth which if the dog feels any more threatened can lead to a bite. It’s important when working with a scared dog that we don’t flood a dog when he shows signs of being uncomfortable. Flooding is an outdated technique that is still being used today to help dogs overcome their fears. Scared of water, just throw the dog in and he will have no other option to swim. This will cause more stress on the dog.

That’s why it is so important to understand what the dog is trying to tell you and use positive reinforcement to help him overcome his fears. Dog training is a team effort. When you are not clear in what you expect of your dog, he can’t understand you. Teach him what he needs to know in order to survive our world without having to endure that much stress. We need to work with them to show them that the world isn’t so scary. Other people and dogs might be fun to play with.

Dogs love to be around us, so when we leave them while we go to work, this has an effect on them. It can cause a stress reaction in the body which will lead to a dog who might eat your furniture, pees in the house or howls until you come home. He will be so happy on your return, but when you show anger for what he did, this will confuse him and create him to become fearful of you.

When a dog doesn’t understand what we want, it will react in his own ways. it’s instinct and natural behaviour for him. We can’t blame a dog for showing natural behaviour. Barking is how they communicate. We need to learn to co-exist with them and accept who they are.

So now that we know that dogs can express their emotions in different ways, is there still such a thing as a ‘bad’ dog?!