18/06/2025
âŒïž If an âaggression expertâ isnât advocating for thorough investigation into possible pain as part of their work with you⊠they are NOT ethical! âŒïž
This is a sensitive story, and as such names have been changed to protect my clientsâ privacy and identity. The dog pictured below is mine.
Over the last couple of months Iâve been working with a family and their dog (weâll call him âBennyâ). A year ago, Benny turned from a loving family pet to suddenly guarding the lounge; anytime that someone made an unexpected move in the room or entered it, Benny would begin posturing and barking at them, which eventually escalated into jumping and grabbing at their clothes, and then bites that punctured the skin.
A physical examination at the vet didnât yield any results, and Benny was taking multiple types of anxiety medication that didnât touch his behaviour.
We started working together, and I asked them to have some scans done to further investigate pain. Behaviour changes are one of the first indicators of pain, but otherwise dogs are REALLY good at hiding pain and it can be easily missed, even in a vet exam.
Because they had already been to see the vet, I was met with some resistance. We did implement safety measures and some training strategies to try to help Benny feel more at ease in the lounge, but his behaviour wasnât improving.
Eventually, Benny did have an MRI, and it was revealed that he has a chiari malformation in his brain - that is, part of his brain was pushing down into the spinal canal. We could have done all the training in the world but it wouldnât have mattered, because this wasnât a behaviour issue.
How many trainers would have slapped a shock collar on this poor dog, who was already suffering? How many would have simply said that he needed to learn boundaries or hear the word ânoâ and not looked any further? How many would say that itâs all well and good to use positive reinforcement, until it âdoesnât workâ and then you need punishment?
Itâs estimated that up to 80% of aggression cases have some kind of underlying medical issue. You NEED a behaviour expert who can liaise with your vet and who will advocate for *thorough* examination, not just a quick check over to tick a box.
Itâs an unregulated industry. Be careful who you trust with your dog, even if they call themselves an expert or have tons of followers. And if your dogâs behaviour suddenly changes, theyâre probably in pain.
