It is a commonly held myth that owners should remove things from their dog ‘to show him who is boss’ and to make him more likely to relinquish possession of things in the future.
However, dogs are not born with an understanding of what is wanted from them by human society, nor a desire for ‘rank’, they are simply born with strong, innate instincts and a capacity to become friendly with humans. One of these instincts is ‘resource holding potential’. This reflects how motivated an individual is to keep hold of a certain resource that they personally value, and levels vary between dogs. For some dogs, this natural behaviour leads to food guarding, whereas others are more inclined to guard their toys. Displays of aggression (e.g. growling) around these resources help to prevent their loss, by ‘scaring’ the threat away. This is natural ‘doggy language’. Unfortunately, owners who act on this dangerous myth are likely to end up in a situation where their dog is growling at them because their nearby presence has come to represent the loss of the resource. The owner may then incorrectly punish the growling (which only serves to increase the dog’s anxiety around the resource) in order to stop it. However, punishment does not alter the underlying emotion, and any dog that feels threatened but who isn’t allowed to growl to communicate their feelings, may end up resorting to biting to get their message across. Knowing this, it is clear that removing things from a dog does not ‘show him who is boss’, nor does it make it more likely that things will be relinquished in the future. It does however, place people in danger and lead to dogs being euthanised. Ultimately, all dogs should be taught that humans are not a threat to their resources through the use of positive reward based techniques, such as ‘swap’ and ‘drop’. If your dog growls over a resource whenever anyone is near, it is advisable to seek assistance from a qualified canine behaviourist. © |