“But You Didn’t Fix Him!” (The Importance of Ongoing Behavior Management)

​Every time I wrap things up with a behavior modification client, give the dog one last ear scratchie, and give the owners a hug while congratulating them for all their hard work, I drive away wondering how long it will be until I receive that call or email asking for me to come back because something went wrong. Most times I get lucky. The owners diligently follow the management plan set in place, and they and their dog live a happy, incident-free life. However, sometimes I don’t get so lucky, and I receive a message a few months later very similar to the title of this article. “You didn’t fix him.”

Dogs with a history of severe behavior problems, especially those left untreated for long periods of time, will always have those problems to some degree. Thus, continued management is necessary for the dog (and their owners, by proxy) to live a happy and stress-free life.

You might be reading this and your heart just sank a little. Trust me, I know what it’s like to live with a dog who exhibits very severe problems, and experiencing that wave of emotions as a behaviorist tells you that the issue will never be completely fixed. However, just remember that almost always the issue can be so dramatically reduced that it’s practically as if the problem doesn’t exist anymore. That is, if you are diligent about ongoing behavior management after behavior modification therapy ceases.

Want proof? Let me tell you the story of Blue.

Blue was purchased at 10 weeks old. He was a fantastic puppy: smart, eager to please, driven, and absolutely the sweetest thing you’d ever meet. However, when he reached adolescence, some red flags went up in regards to his behavior. He and his littermate sister were outside while their owners were eating on the patio. He was given a rib bone and immediately charged and attacked his sister for coming near him.

Remember this: resource guarding is a NORMAL and NATURAL dog behavior. Dogs deserve the right to 1) have items which are theirs and 2) to express to other dogs that they don’t want to share. However, there are healthy ways to communicate this and unhealthy ways. Uninhibited aggression is most certainly unhealthy and goes against every evolutionary process regarding resolution behaviors in canine society (more on this in a later article).

In a perfect world, Blue’s owners would have called a behaviorist right away. However, his problems were left to escalate for almost a year. His resource guarding became so extreme that he’d need to be put away when his owners were cooking, or he’d attack the other dogs for walking into the kitchen, near the pantry, by the table, etc. On Thanksgiving day, something which anyone could see coming (but his owners didn’t want to believe) finally happened-- a horrible fight broke out. Blue killed one dog and destroyed the eye of another dog, permanently blinding her.

It was heartbreaking for everyone involved, but believe it or not this story has a happy ending, and there’s a reason why I’m sharing it with you.

Blue’s owners finally reached out to a behaviorist. Through extensive counter conditioning and systematic desensitization over a period of many months, Blue made almost a full recovery. Years later, he is doing very well living in a multi-dog household-- but only because of ongoing management. Blue eats in his crate away from other dogs, food and chewies are not left out on the floor, he has been taught to retreat on his own to his “safe space” when he feels overstimulated, and the other dogs in the house have been taught to give him space when he expresses warning signs. Furthermore, healthy communication between everyone in the house is praised heavily, and dogs are removed from unhealthy situations before they feel the need to react.  If you see Blue today, you’d never guess he had it in him to injure another dog to the extent that he did. In fact, I frequently use him as a neutral dog when working with reactivity clients. He’s one of my greatest success stories.

I’ve worked with other dogs who were not so lucky. After many weeks of hard work, the behaviorist leaves and owners slack off. Scheduled routine vanishes, exercise is reduced, the dog is given more slack, and one thing after another leads to a dog who’s right back to where they started. Naturally, owners get frustrated, thinking the trainer must have done something wrong. Often I get a frantic call asking me to come back, and sometimes I don’t (“obviously” if I didn’t fix them the first time around, it’s a waste of money to have me come again). My heart goes out to these dogs.

I hope Blue’s story encourages anyone living with a “nightmare dog” to not only seek professional help, but also to understand how vital continued management is to the treatment of behavioral problems.