Only today I was told how worried a family have become that their usually very quiet, shy dog has, at the age of nine years, started to bark at strange dogs when they are away from the house.  Their level of concern was such that they had sort the advice of their Vet, as to what could have caused this.

This is one of the main reasons that our team of recommended Dog Listeners all offer a free lifetime back-up service, as we can never know when something unexpected (different) will happen to cause a change in a dog's behaviour and subsequent reactions. We all want to ensure that owners, who put their faith in us, succeed in bringing harmony to their relationship with their dog. To maintain that harmony, we are able to guide the owner through challenging times, whatever the cause.

We can always be confident that we can do this because we know; it really doesn't matter what strange behaviour the dog exhibits, it is the way that the owners respond to that behaviour that will determine success. An example of this is, when a dog barks at a stranger passing the garden or house and the owner shouts and becomes angry then the dog will respond to this as it considers this 'joining in' the defence of the family. There is also the dog's desire to protect a clearly 'distressed' owner. However, when the owner is calm and reassuring, responding with a gentle 'Thank you' then the dog believes that it can put its trust in a leader who understands the cause of the dog's fear.

Just because your dog has perhaps encountered many yellow Labradors in various places it could be that on one occasion there is a combination of a yellow Labrador, loud bang and sudden movement which cause confusion in your dog and a difference in its behaviour could happen. We cannot always know what has caused a behaviour change in a dog as what we perceive as non threatening can be a traumatic event in a dog's eyes. This is why we never worry about what had caused the change, we just deal with the response from the dog and help it to overcome any fears.

On this occasion the 13 year old daughter of the family returned home quickly, as she was not sure what was happening, smart girl. It is always better to come back to where you and your dog feel safe and think of your next move rather than panic and get it wrong.

I am reminded of a lady who called on our help when she was experiences many problems with a dog from a rescue centre. Happily this lady worked with our advice and transformed the dog in a matter of weeks and accepting that this method is a way of life, rather than a training scheme, took each day as it came and responded appropriately.

About six months later we received a phone call from this owner concerned that the dog had, in her words 'Had a setback', because the evening before the dog had become extremely nervous and hid in a cupboard when her guests gathered for a dinner party.  Understandably this loving owner wanted to understand what could have happened and when we asked how many dinner parties she had hosted since the dog had joined the family the lady replied that this was actually the first such event that he had encountered and in that moment she realised that there was no problem just a different experience for the dog and he needed space to get away to somewhere safe to get time to think the situation through.

As we talked a little more this lady realised that she had become anxious when the dog became distressed and as some of her guests were making 'helpful' suggestions the whole thing became unnecessarily stressful for her and her dog. Realising this gave her immense confidence that she would be able to recognise an unfamiliar event for her dog in the future and know to stay relaxed and calm and above all give her dog the opportunity to really appreciate the need for her to step up to the role of leader whenever her dog needs reassurance.

Jan Fennell

13th June 2012