Excusing behavior is an easy habit to fall into, especially when dealing with behaviors that are perceived as negative for a potential guide dog to exhibit. It’s important to remember that we are not making judgments on the quality of the dog as an individual; if he doesn’t make it as a guide dog, he is not a failure or a “bad” dog. He just isn’t a match for the type of work guiding requires.
One common scenario is the fearful or uncertain puppy. It can be tempting to try to pinpoint a particular event as the cause for fears. However, fearful tendencies don’t just appear out of nowhere. A single event might be enough to bring out the more obvious signs of fear and may intensify future responses, but the foundations for a fearful response were already present, and the previous signs may have been more subtle.
The leash commonly masks concern or uncertainty, especially with a dog that is particularly willing to please his handler. So a dog may walk into a crowded mall dozens of times and appear to be okay. However, his pupils may be dilated, his breathing increased, and he may have a change in pace (slowing because of uncertainty, or speeding up in a “panic pull”). He also may change his personal space boundaries, either by staying close and constantly touching the handler, or wanting to keep a steady distance. He may curl up into a tiny ball when you stop to sit on a bench, or he may have trouble settling. All of these are subtle signs of discomfort. So when the puppy later has a mall exposure that results in him fleeing from a sudden noise, it can be easy to attribute it to that single noise event. But in reality, that noise was just the final straw that resulted in a more obvious behavior response.
While not every startle or jumpy response from a dog is cause for concern, be careful not to dismiss it either. Try to take notice of the dog’s behavior, posture, and movement before and after the “scary” event. Many dogs who end up afraid of loud noises, children, or other common “canine concerns” show early signs but soldier through the discomfort; often, it’s because they rely heavily on the handler for confidence. This becomes a problem (and often surprises raisers) when the dog is asked to make decisions without handler input and lead as a guide dog. Without immediate feedback, the dog’s stress increases and they choose avoidance or flight.
Negative responses to people or other dogs are often blamed on single events as well. This is most commonly seen in rescue dogs (“He was clearly abused by a bearded man in a hat, because he is afraid of bearded men who wear hats.”), but we hear similar assumptions in the raising world as well. Dogs will react to strange or novel silhouettes simply because they haven’t had exposure; however, their temperament will determine how fast they recover, if at all. If a puppy spooks at a bearded man, watch for the puppy’s entire reaction. If he will approach for a treat and then leans in for a snuggle, he is probably recovering well. If, however, he streeeetttches in for a treat, keeping his feet planted at a distance, and then retreats, he has not recovered. He may accept petting or an approach, but if he is not soliciting attention or willingly approaching, he has not recovered. This is important to note and modify future greetings to offer the puppy support and a positive experience.
It also can be confusing if a puppy presents as confident, bold, and feisty most of the time, but then has a few incidents where he appears fearful. Remember how some puppies “activate” in the presence of stress? Don’t excuse responses that concern you just because you are used to a revved up dog.
I’m not immune to this type of excuse-making, so don’t think I am excluding myself here! My border collie Scorch and I encountered our worst nightmare on a walk when four dogs burst out of a house and attacked him. It makes it easy to dismiss his fearful, snapping responses to dogs, especially of a certain breed. However, the event did not CREATE his fearful response to certain dogs. As he became an adult dog, long before the attack, his tolerance for pushy, in-your-face dogs was very low. He inherited that tendency from his father, who was also a dog with little tolerance for “rude” dogs.
In contrast, a graduate that I trained encountered a similar situation, where her dog was attacked on a route. He was always stable and extremely tolerant of other dogs. After the attack, he remained tolerant and stable. The incident was enough to briefly slow him down or make him hesitate, but he remained friendly and confident.
So if you are seeing a behavior that concerns you, or if you want to see how your puppy is reacting to a particular exposure, there are a few ways to verify what you are seeing:
- Start training yourself to observe behaviors, NOT interpret behaviors. “He loves children” calls up a different image than “he approaches children with a low-wagging tail, lowering himself to the ground and crouching, then leaps up, rapidly licking at their faces.”
- Bring in an objective eye: have another raiser handle the dog while the AC observes. Adding the stress of an unfamiliar handler will often uncover hidden behaviors and responses.
- Handle your dog on a long leash. Give the dog the option to approach or leave from the exposure. Do not correct or try to direct the dog. For example: if the puppy has spooked at men, have a male neighbor approach you on your walk. Give the puppy enough leash to back up or move forward. Shake the neighbor’s hand and have a conversation and ignore the dog. Then have the neighbor offer a treat. It will be the puppy’s choice to approach, without the leash or handler influencing him.
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