What I did: I walked in to the play area alone. Staff picked up on warning signs as Gladys approached me. She was warned off initially but soon after jumped and nipped me (shirt sleeve only, no body contact which I ignored). I retreated out of the area but stayed between the safety fences. I avoided eye contact with Gladys but interacted with friendly dogs, in particular, boxers. I then entered the area briefly for intervals of 2-3 minutes and retreated for at least 3 times longer. If Gladys approached I dropped my eyes or turned away to take pressure off her to respond. She did rush the gate several times during this step in the process, when this happened I offered a short (no more than two syllables) verbal redirection and then dropped my eyes immediately. After 15-20 minutes of this I entered the enclosure and directed staff to distract Gladys when she noticed me, chasing a ball or enticing her with a high value toy. Gladys was now not stalking me but still stiff and interested. When she got close enough to investigate me, we asked familiar staff to approach her and stroke and praise her for her calm behavior next to me. After the positive interactions Gladys would retreat and returned to investigate two more times with staff praising her calm behavior each time.
How it worked: After less than an hour Gladys was totally relaxed around me in the enclosure.
Why it worked: Gladys was being punished each time a new individual (either human or dog) would enter the play area. She was reacting to both the punishment and the anticipation of the punishment. Punishment may end a behavior initially but studies show that it is not effective long term. The amount of punishment has to continually be increased to avoid habituation (or getting used to it). The animal being punished usually associates the pain with many signals not just the one behavior we are trying to extinguish. Look at Gladys staff body language, stiff and squared off with a leash in the hand to tie her up would announce her being withdrawn from attention and the group environment, being tied up also was associated with new individuals making her reactions to them even worse. The stress of being punished usually results in ”displacement behaviors” in addition to increased aggression. Displacement behaviors are basically inappropriate responses as a result of a conflict and could be anything from excessive barking to breaks in house training.
Not punishing Gladys and rewarding her for her good behavior made all the difference. I took the pressure of Gladys initially by not invading her space when she reacted to my presence, no correction-just literally ignoring the bad behavior. Staying in close proximity and interacting with friendly dogs, particularly same breed dogs helped to stimulate Gladys’ mirror neurons—those parts of the brain that would light up as if all that friendly interaction was happening to her. Going in and out of the play area in short repeated increments of time also helped to desensitize Gladys to our presence. Redirecting Gladys away from me with a ball kept her moving and redirected her initial energy in a positive manner. Of course, the most positive move, what did the trick, was praising Gladys for being calm around a stranger (me). Key here is working up to it in the steps outlined and setting her up for success by praising her when she is close enough not to react negatively. By soliciting Gladys’ attention for praise and petting when she was calm and close to me she was being mightily reinforced for good behavior and learning to associate my new and novel presence with good things happening. Repeat with new people and dogs several times and she would surely drop the biting and nipping over praise and petting.
Remember, there is no distance at which it would ever be too far to praise the aggressive dog for not being aggressive. Setting this dog up for success means reinforcing the pet's positive body language before it signals aggressive intent. If you do see that aggressive signal (look for "hard eye", squaring off, stiffening, freezing, hackles coming up, pursed lips, etc.) a redirection followed by immediate praise for execution gets you back on track. Each dog is an individual and being able to read your particular dog must be learned.
This is a valuable exercise and it works but it must be carried out by proactive and compassionate handlers who are well versed in reading canine body language, keeping triggers under threshold (distance and reinforcement are key) and defusing situations in a positive and non threatening manner.
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