Your canine
conundrumsanswered
Q We have a lovely
bordernese called
Bjorn, below, whose
worst habit is barking
his head off when
anyone goes to leave
the house. It happens
when my husband
leaves for work in the
morning, and when
any visitors are going
home. Please help us!
ClareGraeme says: So, a border
collie-cross-bernese with
a Swedish name, eh? No
wonder the poor lad’s
confused! Jokes apart,
I think there’s a big clue
in his breeding. He’s part
sheepdog, part cattle
herder. Something deep
inside is telling him one
of the flock is escaping
— and it’s his job to stop
them, quick-sharp! If he’s
loud but not aggressive,
put yourself between
him and the door —
actions speak louder
than words. Say “no”
firmly and calmly. Be
careful not to fuel the
fire by shouting or you’ll
all be “barking”, but do
praise him gently when
he is quiet. Often we
forget to reward the
behaviour we really want.Email your doggy
dilemma to dogslife@
sunday-times.co.ukBy Rupert Fawcett
partition wall (I’ve seen both
of those), or if your neighbours
complained about the howling:
extreme cases, in other words.
These days, with a pet cam
installed and motion alerts
enabled on your phone, you can
watch what your dog is up to
from afar. This is a double-edged
sword: it’s good to know if
they’re tearing the place up, but
if you’re prone to worrying you’ll
be obsessively reaching for your
mobile every time Fido so much
as passes wind. (Where are the
flatulence-sensing smart air
fresheners, incidentally? I’d pay
good money for one of those.)
The difficulty with being more
attuned to potential problems isthat we can become more
anxious about them ourselves
— and anxiety is contagious.
Dogs read our facial expressions
and posture. Many studies over
the past ten years or so have
proven the point. If you’re
worried your dog might be
upset when you leave, and it’s
clear from your face and tense
shoulders, they’ll spot it. If your
demeanour is anything but
reassuring, a dog you’ve bonded
with will struggle to be calm.
“I was feeling a bit wobbly
when you picked up the car
keys and put on your coat,” your
dog is thinking, “but now you
look terrified. This is NOT
good. Don’t leave me!” It’s a
vicious circle. If you have an
issue like this with your dog, it’s(search for canine enrichment
online) or perhaps a rubber
Kong-style toy with a few
favourite treats inside.
You absolutely can turn the
tide, but there are no quick
fixes. We covered the subject
in the first series of Dogs
Behaving (Very) Badly when
I went to the Rhondda Valley to
meet a Jack Russell/pug cross
called Dolly who barked and
had toilet accidents every time
her owner, Laura, left her alone.
I encouraged Laura to go
through the process of calmly
coming and going, time and
again, while I watched Dolly
on a webcam from down the
street. I looked happy enough
on camera, but it was brass
monkey weather. As the hours
went by, it became clear to
the (also shivering) crew that
when at breakfast I’d said
this wouldn’t be a “magic-wand
job”, I wasn’t being unduly
pessimistic. We got Laura very
much on the right track by
working to a plan — but it
required patience. (“Seldom
in a woman; never in a man!”
my old grandma used to say.)
Finally, if you’re tempted to
get a second dog to keep yours
company, you might want to
think again. Last year a study
by the Academy for Animal
Naturopathy in Dürnten,
Switzerland, used webcams to
observe 32 dogs in single-dog
homes and 45 dogs in multi-dog
households, and came to a
surprising conclusion. Living
with another dog did not appear
to relieve the symptoms of
separation anxiety. In fact,
overall it made things worse.
In particular, the dogs who
barked the most were males
in multi-dog households. So
girls are fine when left to their
own devices and it’s the boys
who stir up trouble — I wonder
what my grandma would have
said about that nGraeme’s TV series, Dogs
Behaving (Very) Badly, is
on Tuesdays at 8pm on
Channel 5. Perfectly Imperfect
Puppy: The Ultimate Life-
Changing Programme for
Training a Well-Behaved,
Happy Dog by Graeme Hall is
published by Ebury at £14.99important to try your best to
adopt a matter-of-fact attitude
when you leave the house.
Coming and going should be all
in a day’s work, after all. It’s the
best way to reassure your dog.
I was struck recently by some
NHS advice to new parents
about being apart from babies:
“Remember, it’s only natural
for your baby to feel anxious
without you, so there’s no
reason to feel guilty when you
need to get on with other parts
of your life. In fact, separation
anxiety is usually a sign of how
well you have bonded with
them.” Swap “baby” for “dog”
and the same applies.
How else might you help yourdog? Well, practice makes
perfect. It makes sense to repeat
leaving for very short periods
of time and coming back in
again. The message is clear:
“I go, I come back. It’s all
perfectly normal. Nothing
bad is happening.”
Go through your usual key
and coat routine and leave
without a fuss. Wait one minute
and come back in again, calmly.
Literally, a minute — even less
if you’re both struggling — and
build the interval from there.
A word of advice: if your dog
is vocalising or scrabbling at
the door when you’re about
to walk in, hang on, because
your arrival is rewarding to your
pet. Wait until there’s a brief
lull before opening the door.
We want faithful Fido to be
thinking, “When I calm down,
they come in. There’s a pattern
here.” And not: “Barking brings
them back!” Keep at it. New
habits take hundreds of repeats
to bed in. It will help to make
sure Fido has had plenty of
exercise and opportunities to
go to the toilet before you go
to work (set the morning alarm
20 minutes earlier if you need
to — sorry!).
Consider leaving him with
something to occupy his
busy brain, such as a puzzleAdopt a matter-of-fact attitude
when you leave the house.
Anxiety is contagious
GARETH IWAN JONES FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE, GETTY IMAGES ILLUSTRATION © OFF THE LEASH (RUPERT FAWCETT)
The Sunday Times Magazine • 45