Provocative Behavior: Training Your Dog to Accept Strangers

by Ian Dunbar,Ph.D.. M.R.C., V.S.

When a dog bites, its only defense is that is was intentionally provoked. Legal assessments of liability are generally based on an evaluation of the location, nature, and intent of the victim. If the bite occurred on public property, if the victim was a child, or if the provocation was unintentional, court decisions tend to favor the victim, and the owner is liable for the dog's actions: The owner let the dog venture onto public property, the owner let the dog play unattended with a child, and the owner neglected to proof the dog against provocation. Even when the victim did not intend to aggravate the dog, it does not necessarily follow that the person's actions were not provocative to the dog. On the contrary, unless appropriately proofed and desensitized, many dogs feel threatened by physical contact and the mere proximity of people - who may have perfectly good intentions. In fact, social behavior problems may be largely analyzed and explained in terms of eye contact, distance/proximity, and physical contact.

Provocation in The Show Ring

An otherwise well-socialized dog may growl when approached by a judge. In the show ring, the dog may feel disquieted, since it senses that many people are watching and/or that the owner/ handler is nervous. The dog may become fidgety and start acting up, making the handler more apprehensive. The dog senses the rising tension and becomes increasingly on edge, a vicious circle develops. The approach of a stranger (e.g. a judge) may be the last straw that precipitates a growl.

A long and protracted growl is not necessarily the sign of an impending attack: rather, the dog is warning us that it feels uneasy. When its personal space is violated the dog has two options: to retreat or to convince the intruder to retreat. In the show ring or veterinary clinic, however, the dog's retreat is prevented, so the dog can only growl to warn the owner that it has the willies and to warn strangers to stay away. The growl is not necessarily an indication of an irreparably flawed temperament but, rather the growl is simply an advertisement of the dog's discomfort at having been forced into a threatening situation.

Such behavior problems may be adequately resolved using progressive desensitization techniques, and they may be easily prevented using routine confidence building exercises. In effect, all we have to teach the dog is that strangers are no threat and then the dog has no reason to growl. The owner must first deal with his dog's underlying confidence problem and then train it not to growl.

The relative ease of prevention and treatment should not seduce one to adopt a cavalier attitude. The problem is extremely serious and a delinquent response spells disaster both for the dog and for approaching strangers. Until the problem is resolved, common sense dictates that the dog be appropriately controlled and/or confined at all times and should not be allowed on public property and/or around strangers. The dog's behavior will worsen with each exposure to threatening situations (e.g. show ring, conformation class, or veterinary clinic). To continue to show the dog forcing it to interact - will destroy the dog's temperament in short order.

Making Matters Worse

Limiting treatment to punishing the dog for growling generally makes matters worse. The dog is growling because it feels uptight in specific situations. If the dog is punished, it now has two reasons to be uptight: The initial reason, lack of confidence, and the owner/handler's inexplicable aggressive outburst, which destroys what little confidence remains. In many cases, punishment may cause the growling to increase in frequency - a paradox of learning. Another vicious circle develops: The more the dog is punished, the more it has reason to growl and hence, the more it is punished.

Coming with neither apparent reason nor warning, the attack by the handler (the dog's only immediate ally) tends to make the dog especially nervous and spooky, Moreover, the contingency of both the dog's uneasiness and the handler's aggression upon the specific situation tends to produce a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality - the dog is perfectly fine most of the time, except in the show ring or conformation class! Strangely enough, the dog probably feels the same way about the owner/handler - perfectly fine most of the time, except in the show ring.

Cases where punishment successfully inhibits growling can still be disastrous, since we now have a dog that still feels uptight but will no longer give warning. Of course the dog should be trained to stop growling, but only after the underlying confidence problem has been fully resolved.

Proofing for The Show Ring

Temperament training comprises a two-stage progressive desensitization process whereby the dog learns not only to tolerate the proximity and contact of strangers, but also to thoroughly enjoy the company and actions of strangers (including aversive handling). Once the dog eagerly welcomes strangers and is no longer intimidated by their actions (and hence has no reason to act defensively), it may be taught to "Shush" on command.

The prime directive in rehabilitation is that no stranger be allowed to approach, let alone touch the dog until it has both the confidence and the inclination to approach and contact the stranger. Therapy hinges on getting the dog to approach a stranger voluntarily. Enticing the dog to approach for the first time is the most time-consuming aspect of treatment.

Thereafter, therapy proceeds quickly and smoothly. Training is facilitated by using counterconditioning and troubleshooting techniques.

Counterconditioning: Before involving a stranger, the owner should teach the dog how it is expected to act. Knowing acceptable protocol usually reduces anxiety when under stress. For example, reading from cue cards is less worrying than giving an extemporaneous address. Let's forget the stand for examination until the dog has completely overcome its fear of strangers. The stand/stay is the most unstable of the four basic stays and, most probably, instructing the dog to stand already has unpleasant associations. Instead we will teach the dog to sit for examination.

Troubleshooting: To expedite desensitization, it is advisable to subject the dog to two or three hundred sit examinations involving half a dozen or so strangers in a single session. Multiple approaches are essential for success, since the first approach is always the most frightening and time consuming. Thereafter, the dog builds confidence with each examination.

*Conformation Classes: Several problem dogs attend classes with their owner and a friend. In Class One the owner teaches the dog the routine described below with the friend holding the leash. Then the friend works the dog with the owner holding the leash. Once the owner and friend have each approached the dog 20 or 30 times, the friends work as strangers with the next dogs in line. The entire process is repeated in at least twice as many trials. To encourage the dog to approach strangers, work with a hungry dog and plenty of tasty food treats. It is highly unlikely that a dog will run straight up to the first stranger, but it is usually possible to entice the dog to approach at least part of the way. If the stranger stands at a distance where the dog feels comfortable, tosses a treat and then steps back, characteristically the dog will tentatively approach to grab the treat before retreating. The approach/'avoidance behavior gradually disappears if the stranger retreats each time the dog approaches. After a number of trials, the dog will approach and take food from the stranger's hand. Repeat this a number of times, with the stranger always stepping back as the dog takes the food, thus encouraging the dog to approach once more. Each approach builds confidence.

Once the dog approaches readily, by using a lure hand signal the dog may be enticed to sit before it receives the food reward. Once the dog has approached and sat several times in a row, instead of giving the treat the stranger will instruct the dog to sit/stay and step back a couple of paces (with the dog restrained on leash).

The stranger may now approach to proffer the tasty treat and the dog is no longer afraid, because only a second previously it had voluntarily approached and nuzzled the stranger's hand. The dog is now kept in a sit/stay while the stranger alternately retreats and approaches (and treats) several times in succession, progressively increasing the speed of each approach.

The stranger may now delay giving the treat until gently scratching the dog's ear - first once, then twice, and so on, until substantial; petting (examination) of the dog is possible. The speed of hand movement and length of contact are gradually increased as the stranger proceeds with the full series of aversive handling exercise.

The same rigmarole is repeated in Class Two with the same people, each wearing or carrying something silly. Classes Three and Four are similar to One and Two, but employ a down for examination instead of the sit. Class Five reintroduces the stand for examination and for graduation, in Class Six, everybody wears a costume, walks silly and talks silly. At this stage, the many strangers (now all good buddies) may shout, scream and run and smack the dog on the head, and the dog should remain standing happily and confidently. There is nothing that could possible occur in the show ring that even remotely approaches the level of proofing achieved in class. Training your dog to accept the approach and handling of strangers will both assure you of his manners and prevent problems in - and out of- the show ring.

Reprinted from CRC Newsletter; originally appeared in the AKC Gazette.