11/12/2024
Quoting (with permission)an excellent post from Sharon Carroll that was in the Fenzi Dog Sport Academy Alumni group. It's a long one but worth a read!
Link to original post in comments, but you have to be a group member/almuni to read.
"In the Discussion Forum in the current BH240 class, one of the students asked a question about how to determine what is “normal” and what is “abnormal” behaviour with regard to reactivity during adolescence (i.e. what is something that the dog may “grow out of”, what is likely to remain, and what is evidence of something that is truly “abnormal” and may require investigation/treatment.) I am pasting my answer below because I think it’s a topic that a lot of people think about………………….
The answer to this is complex. The reality is, that an individual person’s interpretation of dog behaviour is heavily influenced by their own personal experiences. For example, a person whose experience has mainly been with very typical pet dogs (i.e. non-drivey breeds/mixes) will have a very different perspective, to someone whose experience has predominantly been with very “high drive”, intense, working line / sporting line dogs. This phenomenon extends through to professionals in the dog industry including trainers, instructors, groomers, vet techs, veterinarians, and even veterinary behaviourists.
What is very typical (normal) behaviour during puppyhood, the juvenile period, and the adolescent period (and even adulthood) for a dog from intense working lines, would not be considered “normal” if we saw those same behaviours in a different type of dog, hence if a person’s experience has not included a lot of exposure to the more intense breeds / lines / individuals, then behaviours that are actually “normal” can be erroneously labelled as “abnormal”.
I think one of the reasons this phenomenon has become more noticeable in recent decades, is that historically most people who wanted a pet dog (or even a sport dog) selected from lines that had been developed to produce “good pet dogs”. Whether that was from breeders of a specific breed that bred for “pet dog temperaments”, or just due to “selection” occurring somewhat naturally (i.e. when pet dogs were free to roam the neighbourhood, those were the dogs that reproduced - hence litters mostly were derived from two dogs that were quite “low drive” and innately capable of behaving very “appropriately” around other dogs and people that they came across on their neighbourhood wanderings (………….. and dogs that couldn’t be “trusted” to interact with dogs/people unsupervised were locked up at home, and hence didn’t add their genetics into the local “pet dog population”).
Our current dog population however is very different to our more historic dog population (especially in places like USA / Australia where leash laws are quite strict). Also, a lot of people nowadays select a dog for reasons other than their “pet dog qualities” (e.g. they are chosen due to physical appearance, or for the traits that may make them highly successful sports dogs). This has resulted in many more people living with dogs that possess traits such as intensity, athleticism, stamina, speed, strong desire to “work”/train, strong desire to chase, alerting / guarding instincts, herding instincts, etc. These dog’s however display a range of behaviours, that whilst normal for those genetics, may appear completely abnormal to people who have not had extensive experience with working line/sporting line dogs.
The adolescent period is a time where many people question whether the behaviours they are seeing in their dog are indeed “normal” and may also be trying to determine to what extent these behaviours will change with maturity.
There is no simple answer, but I do think it is often worth seeking out information from multiple people who have extensive experience with the type of dog that you have, as they are likely to be well versed on what would be considered “normal” for that breed/line. Remembering that “normal” is only a reflection of what is typical / expected, as opposed to being a label for a fixed set of behaviours.
Whilst I am a strong advocate for identifying behavioural pathologies early, and having them diagnosed and treated, I think we need to be cautious about misinterpreting the behaviours associated with low frustration tolerance and limited impulse control as “abnormal” especially during adolescence.
In my personal experience, I currently see many more cases where “normal” behaviour has been labelled as “abnormal”, than cases where true abnormal behaviour has been misinterpreted as normal (especially during adolescence).
Importantly though, I am not suggesting that we just allow our adolescent dog to perform “reactive outbursts” with the assumption that these behaviours will change with maturity (because the rehearsal alone is likely to create unwanted habits that may be difficult to change). Instead, I think we need to be very strategic with the situations we place our dog in during adolescence and be exceedingly flexible with our expectations during this developmental stage. Often the combination of effective management during adolescence, together with undertaking routine training in situations where our dog has the ability to be successful (i.e. situations and environments where our dog is able to manage their emotions / arousal / behaviours), will result in an adult dog that is very capable of managing themselves in a wide range of environments / situations (even those that were well beyond their skillset during adolescence).
It is also important to remember that even after adolescence has ended some breeds/lines are genetically predisposed to being very alert, hypervigilant (i.e. actively monitoring for changes in the environment), and hyper-aware of environmental stimuli/changes (i.e. noticing and responding to the appearance of stimuli or other changes in the environment); some are also predisposed to being wary of unfamiliar people, intolerant of other adult dogs, or have limited tolerance for restraint / handling / loss of agency. Hence behaviours driven by these traits may be considered "normal" in certain dogs / lines / breeds.
In order to determine whether the behaviour is "normal" or not, it is best to look at the subtle body language that is exhibited during these responses......... (as a very general guide......... if the body language and suite of behaviours looks "confident" (i.e. it looks like the dog feels "in control" of themselves when they are performing the behaviours), and/or the body language indicates that the dog is "enjoying" performing the behaviour, and/or the dog is readily able to not perform the behaviour when they perceive something more "interesting" / valuable, and/or recovery is exceedingly quick after an outburst occurs, then it is likely not to be truly "abnormal" behaviour for that individual. - However the behavior may still need to be modified for safety reasons or to meet the needs of the human/society.)"
