MATTHEW WATKINSON • WEB: http://www.fishsnorkel.com • TWITTER: http://twitter.com/fishsnorkel
A FRESH LOOK AT CANINE PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES “People’s willingness to employ behavior-modifying medications stems in part from a growing desire for more convenient, obedient household animals.” James Vlahos (http://ht.ly/3avcj) SUMMARY
Mental suffering in dogs should trouble us as much as physical suffering.
INTRODUCTION This article was published in Dogs Monthly Magazine (http://www.dogsmonthly.co.uk/) earlier in the year: Would you rather have arthritic hips or severe anxiety? I suspect you’d rather have neither, but if you had to choose, would you rather be in chronic physical pain, or chronic mental pain? I only ask because there’s a dog two houses down from where I live that seems to have the latter. He’s tied in the garden for several hours of most days and spends most of those several hours anxiously barking at the back door. He’s the exact opposite of happy and content and I’m struggling to work out how anybody can see this as rewarding pet ownership. I suspect he has to be tied in the garden because he’s destructive when left alone inside for example, but is tying him in the garden really a responsible solution? It certainly wouldn’t be an acceptable solution if the dog had arthritic hips that’s for sure, but for these owners it is an acceptable solution for mental stress and I would like to challenge this view. I think it’s time we all realised that mental suffering is as serious as physical suffering.
SYMPTOMS I don’t want to get too anthropomorphic, and I definitely don’t want to be dragged into any deep philosophical discussions about suffering and sentience, but I am going to assume that humans aren’t the only species capable of experiencing mental suffering, and I am going to suggest that we should assume that dogs can experiencing mental suffering until somebody proves otherwise. I have no idea why anybody would want to prove otherwise I must admit, but they haven’t yet so I think it’s perfectly acceptable to credit dogs with the emotional feelings they so clearly demonstrate. And this includes the bad emotions, however they manifest. It may be as compulsive-obsessive behaviours like tail chasing and flank-sucking, or as destructive behaviour such as furniture chewing or self-mutilation, but whatever the symptom there must be a cause and I think it’s perfectly acceptable to treat anxiety, frustration, boredom, fear and aggression as genuine possibilities. All you have to do then is identify the source of the cause.
TRAPPED WOLVES I’m not going to pretend I’m a qualified dog behaviourist, because I’m not. In fact, I don’t even know what a qualified behaviourist is anymore. They all seem to have different opinions about the role of dominance, submission, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement etc. and I currently have absolutely no idea who is right. Perhaps dogs are so intelligent that they will eventually learn whatever the technique, but picking the method that’s best for the dog is beyond me at present. I have decided to go back to first principles therefore. I have decided to look at the behaviour of the last wild ancestor – domestic dogs split from Grey Wolves about 15,000 years ago – and the current wild descendent – Dingoes are descendents of domestic dogs 1
MATTHEW WATKINSON • WEB: http://www.fishsnorkel.com • TWITTER: http://twitter.com/fishsnorkel
that went back to the wild about 5,000 years ago – to see if they can help explain the presence of mental stress in pet dogs, and the conclusions are staggering. They do require a pretty serious leap of faith though, because the behaviour of wild canids will only mean something if you can accept that your Yorkshire Terrier, or Pug, or Weimaraner, or dog of whatever size and shape is actually a trapped wolf. Maybe not an exact replica granted, but if you would rather not do a degree in dog psychology to understand canine mental problems, the only other way is to accept that dog brains are, basically, wolf brains trapped in unnatural bodies and unnatural environments. And if you can accept that then the following information will rapidly explain the presence of mental problems like obsessive compulsive disorders, self-harm, separation anxiety etc. For example, the intensively studied wild wolves of Isla Royale in Lake Superior, North America, spend an average of eight hours exercising every day, covering an average of thirty miles in the process. While the Dingoes of Australia spend a similar amount of time patrolling their territory and hunting etc., covering an average of fifteen miles a day. These are staggering amounts of time and distance that speak for themselves and if we accept that domestic dogs may have even half the same needs to keep their brains challenged and occupied, the biggest question is why there aren’t more problems, not why there are some at all. A recent survey by the PDSA found that 26 per cent of dogs are walked for less than half an hour a day for example, and a further 7 per cent have no regular exercise at all. That means 33% of surveyed dogs get just 6.25% of the exercise chosen by their wild relatives, at best. And when you combine that with their totally unchallenging access to food (how long does finding food and eating take your dog? Two minutes, maybe three?), it is easy to see how dogs get bored, frustrated, destructive, selfdestructive and compulsive-obsessive etc. Wolves and Dingoes are also social animals, which makes the solitary confinement of pet dogs in gardens or cages or utility rooms etc. another totally unnatural consequence of domestication. In fact, dogs represent the distant relatives of wolves who chose to seek out human company so they are even more likely to need human company now, not less. They’re just not adapted to solitary, sedentary lifestyles and though many will adapt through conditioning (aren’t dogs incredible!), those that succumb to the development of separation anxiety aren’t a function of their own failure; they’re a function of ours.
SOLUTIONS So, I think the best solution by far is a clear understanding of what dogs need before you get anywhere near owning one. They need a lot of mental stimulation and if you can’t provide that through exercise and clever feeding challenges etc., please don’t get a dog. They are unique individuals with psychological needs and the partnership will only work if both sides are satisfied. Beyond that, it is obvious that many people will already own a dog with behavioural problems and these present a much tougher challenge. Not being a behaviourist, I’m not even going to try and offer comprehensive solutions here, but I will say this: you must do something. Tying the dog in the garden like my neighbours have done is not the answer. The actual answer will probably involve veterinary advice, training programmes and sometimes even prescription drugs (to help with the training only), but make no mistake: there is no magic bullet.
WHEN TO GIVE UP This brings me to the subject of accepting defeat, because defeat is a very real possibility. Some of these cases require the patience of a saint and the compliance of a robot and you may not have the capacity for either. Traditionally that would be scorned as failure, but, and you may 2
MATTHEW WATKINSON • WEB: http://www.fishsnorkel.com • TWITTER: http://twitter.com/fishsnorkel
have to read this sentence a couple of times, I think failure to accept failure is an even bigger failure. The first situation just involves broken pride for example, whereas the second involves a broken dog and the dog’s welfare must always come first. If you don’t think you can cope with weeks of sometimes counter-intuitive intensive training (you mustn’t comfort stressed dogs because you’re inadvertently encouraging the stress for example), or you don’t think your temper will survive anymore damage, don’t chuck the dog in the garden and ignore it, accept that the solution is beyond you and start considering other options. The first of these is re-homing. This may seem like an appealing option because the dog gets a second chance, but it may not be the get out card that many hope. Such a dramatic change in the dog’s routine may exacerbate problems for example, and there’s a distinct possibility that a dog with behavioural problems won’t find a new home at all. That’s not to say that it shouldn’t be considered of course, but it should only be considered in light of all possible scenarios. Sometimes it may be deemed inappropriate and that just leaves a solution that many will happily accept to relieve physical suffering, but few will consider when it comes to mental suffering. That just leaves euthanasia.
TOUGH DECISIONS Now, I’m not, under any circumstances, advocating blanket euthanasia of pets with behavioural problems. I’m just saying that it may be a more humane way of dealing with animals that are struggling to cope than solitary confinement in the garden or a lifetime in a re-homing kennel. Many would be horrified to even consider this (especially when you realise that it’s not the dog’s fault in any way), but we can’t let anything other than the welfare of the dog get in the way of preventing suffering, and when I look at the neighbour’s dog endlessly barking at the back door I can’t help thinking that euthanasia would be better than a lifetime of neglect. As far as I’m concerned, the relief of suffering must come first, even if involves tough decisions we’d rather not make.” © Dogs Monthly (www.dogsmonthly.co.uk)
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