Doggone Etiquette —

Alone And Lonely?

By Bardi McLennan

A Word to the Dog:           

You have certainly heard the news. School’s out! Whoopee! Maybe you literally “heard” the news when the kids next door had a party to which you were not invited. Not to worry, now you should be able to get all the attention you know you deserve. If you really are a good dog, you’ll be seeing a lot more of your family and their friends. But watch it! Don’t get carried away with your enthusiasm.  

A Word to the Dog’s Owners:          

Dogs that normally spend long hours alone during work weeks, are often confused when the family (regardless of size, age or sex) suddenly becomes a large part in their lives. Some dogs respond to it with what amounts to “spontaneous combustion.” They race around, jump up on people and furniture, and seem not to have a clue how to handle this delightful switch from solitude to life in society. Believe me, for a dog it’s only a normal expression of ecstasy.

There is, however, another way to look at it. Any dog that is left alone all day, every day, with only a couple of evening hours to be with its people, runs the danger of becoming brain-dead. In other words, the dog loses its natural (or previously trained) means of communication, or in ways people think a dog should behave. Thus we have a dog that may very well have been taught not to do it, now jumping up on people and behaving wildly for one simple reason – he craves the attention. That craving for attention goes so far as to include the dog’s acceptance of any scolding you may dole out.

This scenario can, and often does, occur in rescue dogs especially those with unknown backgrounds.  The dog may have been chained up outside or even left alone in a perfectly nice home for much of every 24 hours, but when brought out of that isolation into a social situation with people, the “dead-head” crops up. The dog could react with excessive joy as described above, or with the opposite such as fear-aggression. All too often the owners can’t cope, and the dog is then placed in a dog pound or shelter, where the workers seldom have the time to retrain such a dog, nor the facilities to re-socialize it. But just being in a kennel setup with people coming and going, and other dogs to watch and listen to, can sometimes help.  

Dogs are pack animals and loneliness is as tough on them as it is on people. Bringing a dog from what amounts to solitary confinement back into a social environment with acceptable behavior often requires the help of a professional dog trainer or canine behaviorist to work with the dog and its owners. The dog will come around if allowed to use its brain by working on obedience, by playing appropriate games for enjoyment and by being given sufficient daily exercise, all of which involve interaction with one or more people. 

Most important of all, the dog needs to be treated as a desirable member of the family rather than a social outcast. Maybe the best part of all that devotion, time and hard work needed to get Rufus back on track is the satisfaction of success – even limited success.

Until next time – BE GOOD (to your Rufus!)

-  Bardi

 

Bardi McLennan bred, trained and showed Welsh Terriers for 30 years during which time she wrote a monthly column on canine behavior in Dog fancy Magazine. In addition to contributing to numerous dog publications, she has written 15 books on dogs, the latest being Rescue Me! which received the ASPCA Humane Issues Award last year.