The dog is a complex being, and although it has lived with humans for at least 15,000 years, it remains an enigma in many aspects. Since it is not possible for everyone to spend time devouring and digesting the canine world, I put it at your disposal.
On a personal level, if I had to study medicine and then specialize for each booboo likely to turn up in my life, if I had to study mechanics to get into a car, if I had to learn to knit and know the characteristics of each fabric to dress, I would surely be hundred-year-old before taking care of myself, driving, or dressing. Not to mention that my rigor would encourage me to keep myself informed of the evolution of knowledge in each of the fields; after all, would you use a GPS of which the maps have not been updated for several years ?
You invite a stranger into your home, you bring a sentient being into your life. My role is to find solutions so that your cohabitation is a source of well-being.
Besides, by calling me out, a professional out of your entourage, even if you know as much as I do, I will have the necessary perspective to observe and analyze your relationship, with that distance your affects do not allow you any longer to have. Your emotions and feelings, sometimes contradictory speeches, physical and moral tiredness, sometimes outweigh reason. The perception of your situation can be disturbed by all this.
Many questions for the solutions to your situation. 🕵🏻♀️
Let’s take the example of a bite
Was there blood ? A bruise ? Was the dog sleeping ? Was he eating ? On a child or an adult ? Inside or outside ? Who was there when that happened ? How did the "attack" stop ? Did any human neing intervene ? Did he/she redirect his/her bite ? Does he/she suffer physically ? How old ? Is he/she undergoing treatment ? What methods are usually used for his/her training ? How long has he/she been in the home ? What are his physical and mental activities ? What inhibition of the bite ?
Let’s take the example of the dog barking when alone
How long has he/she been in your home ? Does he/she do so as soon as you are out ? How long does this behavior last ? Does he also urinate in the house ? Is he/she scratching at the door ? Does he/she destroy ? How does he/she behave when you are back ? What about when he/she cannot see you even when you are in the house ? What about when you take him/her somewhere else ? Is he/she undergoing treatment ? How old ? How has he/she learn about being alone ? What are his/her physical and mental activities ?
That is just one example of the possible questions. Why so much ? In order to contextualize and analyze as precisely as possible. Each situation is specific ; each dog is an individual and experiences emotions differently, and therefore expresses them differently.
"It is better to prevent than to cure"
The earlier in your relationship I will be able to provide you with information useful to your common future, the more you will be able to provide your pet with information that is clear and understandable to him.
When we are alone in a car, holding the wheel which makes us autonomous to move, it can happen that we “forget” our learning. Oops, wheels on the sidewalk while turning, going ahead while the fire is turning orange, pedestrians whose priority we neglect, the speedometer which looks like a game, we slam on the brakes by annoyance instead of braking serenely… Now, let’s suppose we have a dear friend as a passenger whose body risks inflicting him/her many pains at the slightest jolt… Several possibilities are available. Personally, I tend to change the way I drive so that my actions are the least possible to cause annoyance to someone I like. Except that as I am not a very disciplined driver, I make a lot of intellectual efforts to focus. Whereas if I applied this behavior even when I am alone, without distraction, this way of maneuvering would become automatic and would not be subject to coercion ; it would be easier for me to be comfortable than to correct myself and adapt myself each time.
It is the same with dogs. When bad habits become chronic, it is less easy to change them than to teach good ones from the start.
What's more, just like you do not learn to drive while being behind the wheel without having lessons, it is a lot to ask a dog to be able to do what you expect without giving him time to be trained beforehand.
Are you taking the train ? Are you going to the airport ? Do you eat on a restaurant terrace ? Are you going to the groomer ? Are you shopping in a farmers market ? Do you receive guests ? Are you taking him/her along to the beach ? Are you moving out or in? Etc., etc., etc.
Anticipate all of these situations in your life in which you introduce your dog. May he/she be with you, because he/she wants to, not in spite of his/her will. Be in the creation of options.
That said, you can put in a lot of effort and your communication and understanding will break down. Often, people call for help because the dog is not house-trained, he/she runs away, he/she destroys, he/she is aggressive, he/she disobeys, he/she refuses to obey, he/she barks constantly, he/she does not support being alone, he/she jumps on people, he/she humps people and other creatures, he/she pulls on a leash, he/she growls when we get close to the couch, he/she pinches or even bites…
Sometimes those are problems in themselves, sometimes those are symptoms of larger problems.
Anyway, as a dog behavior professional, I hold it dear that I reconcile you with that being who sometimes makes you smile with his/her jokes, to allow you to discover him/her as you do not envisage him/her, to bring him/her into your world with all his/her cooperation.
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