ADVANCED, OFF LEASH SOCIALISATION

ADVANCED SOCIALISATION FOR OLDER DOGS

Taken from an article by Chad Mackin (USA)

 

This advanced socialisation programme is designed to eliminate all fear based forms of dog to dog aggression. It is specifically designed for the sorts of dogs that many dog training schools and doggy day care refuse to take, or indeed the kinds of dogs that are never let off leash in the usual dog training school environment.

 

The instructor interferes only when absolutely necessary for the safety of the dogs. Nips, snarls, growls, stand over’s, stare downs and the offering (and demanding) of alpha rolls are all permitted in most contexts. Laying tooth to flesh with the intention to injure IS NOT PERMITTED: But is probably the only thing that is not!

 

Advanced socialisation is about letting the natural conflict resolution capabilities of the dog, do what they were designed to do, without human interference. Human interference is often a large part of many dogs anti-social behaviour problems. Remove the human influence, and lo and behold, you often remove most of the dog’s problem.

 

Of course it’s not that simple, running an advanced socialisation group, successfully requires an advanced understanding of canine communication and movement. It also requires exceptional judgment on the part of the behaviourists / instructor or trainer

 

Not all dogs are permitted straight away. Some will need to be pre-trained. A balance between the number of dogs and the amount of unoccupied real estate also needs to be maintained. Too little of either can mean disaster.

 

The class is run entirely without leashes. THIS IS NOT A CLASS TO BE TAUGHT OR SUPERVISED BY A HOBBYIST!  Someone thoroughly skilled at reading dogs and understanding group dynamics needs to be the person running a group like this.

 

This is not a revolutionary idea, dogs have been doing it for centuries but for many trainers and instructors (and behaviourists) its seems not only new, but also dangerous and to some, insane. Done right, it is neither! The foundations principles are simple.

 

To begin with we must recognise that true dog-to-dog aggression hardly exists at all outside the battle or fighting breeds. What we describe as dog-to-dog aggression is typically the result of uncertainty, fear, or just plain bad manners! All of which are caused, at least in part, by limited, or improper socialisation.

 

True dog-to–dog aggression looks very different from what we normally see and label as dog-to-dog aggression. Snarling, growling, snapping and raised hackles are all efforts to avoid a fight, not to start one. True dog aggression does not start with a loading process: square, set and go.

 

In over 20 years of training dogs full time, I have only once seen a dog that was truly dog-to-dog aggressive. If you see it only once, you will never forget it, and never mistake one for the other. These truly dog-to-dog aggressive dogs are not suitable for this kind of advanced socialisation groups (I must ad that these dogs are rarely presented to dog trainers for rehabilitation). Dogs bred genetically to fight in pits are also not appropriate to socialise in this manner. Genetics is something that can not be undone!

 

The next thing that we must recognise is that leashes make dogs more aggressive. When frightened, dogs have three options: Fight, Flight or Freeze. For most dogs, flight is the preferred choice. However, when we put them on a leash we remove that option, leaving them ONLY with the other two choices – freeze and/or fight! Freezing only works for so long, when the threat is not removed or worse yet, gets closer, the dog is then only left with one option – fight!

 

Finally we must understand that most dogs, like most people, just want to get through their day with as little conflict as possible. If they can avoid a fight, for the most part they will.

 

What we provide in the advanced socialising group is an opportunity for dogs to learn how to interact with other dogs properly. We allow them to set boundaries. In fact we encourage it and when necessary, enforce their boundaries. They learn not only that they can say “no” but that other dogs, by and large, will respect those boundaries. Suddenly other dogs are not so scary or unpredictable.

 

The benefits go far beyond just improving their social skills though. Through these groups they learn bite inhibition, bite control, better language skills, better stress management skills, and improved confidence. These things reach every aspect of the dog’s life!

 

There are three elements required to safely run an advanced socialisation group. The first is adequate space. There must be enough room for any dogs to retreat to a safe distance when and if he feels the need (critical distance) . How much space is needed is largely dictated by the personalities of the dogs in the class. Large Field Socialisation (first put together by David Klein of Spain) is the predecessor of the Advanced Socialisation Group and as the name implies is conducted in a large field or acreage. I was told by one of the leading promoters of the Klein system that the concept could not be conducted indoors or in a small area. He was wrong. I have done both for many years.

Of course some changes had to be made. There is a way to do this successfully and safely in a relatively small area. But, the space needs to be watched closely.

 

The next thing that is necessary is an adequate number of dogs. We want to create a situation where there are so many dogs that it is difficult for the biter to choose who he wants to bite. He simply can’t fight every one of them. When fighting fails as a response (because potential adversaries overwhelm him) he must choose a different route.

 

The final critical element is a skilled referee. Without someone to keep things running smoothly this sort of thing would be quite dangerous. There is much more to it than just throwing a bunch of dogs together – this can not be stressed enough! The success of the class is entirely dependent of the skill of the person running the class.

 

All that theory is great – but does it work? Read on!

 

OSCAR A DOG-TO-DOG FEAR BITER:

Within ten seconds of being released Oscar nipped at three different dogs. This is not uncommon. I wasn’t concerned but stayed close to Oscar just to be sure. I did not correct Oscar for his inappropriate behaviour. His nips, whilst unpleasant were not dangerous.

 

The other dogs did not correct him either! What they did was to refine their approach until he was willing to accept their presence. They recognised that he was uncomfortable and rather that take his behaviour as an insult, they sought to ease his concerns.

 

I watched as Oscar explored the subtlety of his own body language and as he began to understand the respect that the other dogs gave him.  By the end of the session, he was allowing other dogs to sniff him and was sniffing them. He ran towards one dog is if to solicit play but then backed down at the last moment. He was ranging much further from his owner and staying away for longer periods of time.

 

Oscar was afraid of other dogs. Has had learnt to drive them away by acting aggressively. The rest of the dogs taught him that he didn’t have to do this. They respected his boundaries once he had established them. Once he realised that a slight change in his head elevation, or and angle of his shoulder would get the other dogs to back off, he understood that they were not a threat! He then began to relax because he knew that he could create space whenever he wanted. He stopped shouting, and began talking!

 

He never showed any irritation or fear towards any of the people there – (they had all been given strict instructions not to interact with him or acknowledge him in any way!)

 

This sort of convergent conditioning is not usually a quick fix – but occasionally it is! At the end of the session, Oscar was back on leash, along with the other dogs. He was calm and relaxed, showing no signs of stress about the proximity of the other dogs. Oscar was not “fixed” yet, but he was capable of doing something that the day before he was not able to do! Over the next few weeks Oscar returned for group sessions several times. Before long he was actually playing with the other dogs and helping the more frightened dogs to find their way into the playgroups. He was for all intents and purposes completely rehabilitated. But this is not my success ………………. The dogs teach the class – I only referee!

 

Chad Mackin has been a professional dog trainer for over 30 years – he is also on the board of the International Association of Canine Professionals in the USA.