4 Predictors of Success When Working with Dogs with Behavior Issues

“...here are the realities when working with dogs with significant behavior issues...”

— Scott Sheaffer

After working with thousands of clients, I’ve found there are four key dog owner perspectives that can predict the likelihood of success in working with dogs with behavior issues.

1. Belief: The Most Important Thing

There’s a reason this one is first; it’s really important. Let me be blunt: if you don’t believe your dog can get better and/or you doubt your ability to help effect a change in your dog’s behavior, the likelihood of success is not good.

Let me give you an example of what this may look like. A client comes to me with a human aggressive dog. Not long into the first session, they say something like, “I doubt that we can help Tank, but I at least wanted to try something before I euthanize him.”

See what I mean? This kind of attitude drains everyone’s enthusiasm and optimism, even mine (maybe even the dog’s).

2. Patience: Close Second

Dogs need patience from us. Period.

Behavioral issues are learned by a dog over an extended period; unlearning takes time too. This is the real world of animal behavior, not like those silly “As Seen on TV” dog training shows that remedy all serious dog behavior issues in 12-20 minutes.

There are too many hucksters out there who use shock collars, prong collars, and heaven knows what else, promising quick fixes for all of your dog’s problems. I’ve seen things that would make your skin crawl.

The techniques these imposters use only temporarily veil the symptoms while making the root cause much worse. I should know. I work in the aftermath of these purveyors of pain, trying to help dog owners put the pieces of their dog back together.

Behavior changes take time. We have to slowly reprogram the dog’s thinking to effect real change. Further, there is no “talk therapy” with dogs, making change even more challenging.

Funny how people rightly give themselves ample amounts of time to get over their own fears and other bad habits, but expect dogs to conquer theirs in 15 minutes.

3. Realistic Expectations: What’s Really Possible?

Let me cut to the chase. Everyone wants their dog totally fixed.

I get that we all want problems completely remedied. But here are the realities when working with dogs with significant behavior issues:

First, dogs are never completely fixed when it comes to serious behavior issues. No one ever wants to hear this, but it’s true. If someone tells you they can completely eliminate your dog’s aggression, fear, separation anxiety, etc., they’re just not telling you the truth or they don’t have the experience and expertise to know the realities.

The goal of behavior modification exercises is to improve a dog’s behavior issues enough to make them much more functional as a family pet and for the dog to be more confident and comfortable in their world.

Second, the road of improvement is a jagged line. It would be ideal if we could always see predictable and steady improvement when working with dogs who have behavior issues. But that never happens. Just like with consequential physical and behavioral problems in humans, the healing process is a bumpy road until one day you realize there has been significant and long-term improvement. Yay!

4. Consistency: Last but Definitely Important

Remember when you were a little kid and your teachers always knew if you hadn’t done your reading assignments? They could do this because they instantly knew the telltale signs. Dog trainers and dog behaviorists have the same skills when it comes to knowing if dog owners are doing, or not doing, their doggie assignments!

Real-world and scientifically sound dog behavior work can be monotonous and tedious, and it usually is. It’s hard to get that leash out and do the assigned exercises sometimes. But as I’ve seen many times, it most assuredly can work if done consistently and properly.

Conclusion

I see the importance of these four elements of successful treatment in every case I work with. They’re all essential and are reliable predictors of success.