Behavior Problem Case Reports
Status-Related (Dominance Aggression)
Dan, an 8-year-old, male, neutered, English Springer Spaniel
Presenting
Complaint
Dan’s owners consulted Tufts’ Animal Behavior Clinic via
the clinic’s PETFAX consultation service regarding aggression
(growling, snarling, snapping) the dog directed toward the husband
and the wife. Dan had not bitten either one of them, but the
severity of the challenges was escalating and the variety of
situations in which he would threaten his owners was increasing.
The owners estimated that Dan was approximately 1 1/2 years
of age when he first began to challenge them. In the beginning,
the incidents were sporadic and occurred when the dog was disturbed
while resting or when they summoned him to follow a command
to move from a particular location. Dan would growl at the wife
every time she tried to pet him. The threats (growl, snarl)
were brief and afterwards the dog obeyed a command if the owners
insisted. Over time, Dan began to challenge both owners in a
variety of situations and the intensity of his threats was increasing.
At the time of the consult, Dan had bitten the wife when she
tried to physically remove him from the couch when he was resting.
He began to challenge the owners when they attempted to restrain
or pet him, if they tried to remove delicious food or stolen
items from his possession. He would lunge and snap if they attempted
to physically correct any misbehavior.
Dan was most strongly bonded to the wife, who spent the most time with him. She had never set limits for the dog's behavior and tended to treat him as a human child. The dog was often allowed on her lap and she engaged in frequent holding and kissing of the dog. The husband spent time with Dan in the evening and on weekends. The husband also indulged the dog and adjusted his behavior according to Dan’s whims.
Treatment
Rationale
Threats were predictable in specific situations and served a
purpose for the dog. It also appeared that he had been rewarded
for the behavior, as the owners were inconsistent with their
corrections and often allowed the dog to continue with the behavior
they had tried to correct. The behavior was interpreted as being
consistent with a diagnosis of status-related (dominance) aggression.
Treatment
Recommendations
In order to optimize Dan’s management, the owners were
instructed to increase Dan’s supervised daily aerobic
exercise by 20 minutes, at minimum. We also discussed “click
and treat training” as a means to encourage positive training
techniques and also to expand their training repertoire. Physical
punishment was strongly discouraged as a means of correction.
Avoiding
confrontations, using obedience commands or a head halter when
the owners’ encountered difficulty were the preferred
strategies. We discussed the importance of providing a predictable
daily schedule for interactions with Dan since if he knew what
to expect he would be more relaxed and less demanding. Finally,
the owners were advised to train Dan to wear a basket muzzle
so they would be prepared for any future difficult situations.
Avoiding future confrontations is key to curing a dominance
aggression problem. Each time a dog challenges a human and “wins,”
the unwanted behavior is reinforced. Also, the owners were instructed
to initiate all interactions with Dan and ignore any solicitations
on his part. Given Dan’s uncontrollable penchant to challenge
over delicious food treats, it was decided that he should no
longer be allowed to have any food treats that he would guard
from his owners.
The second important aspect of retraining a dog with dominance
aggression issues is to make the dog “work for his living”
by making him follow a command for every resource he needs or
desires. By having the owners control his resources, Dan would
learn to want to follow their directives. If they were consistent
with the program he would learn that there would be negative
consequences and loss of access to desired resources, if he
did not acquiesce.
Follow-Up
After five days of following the dominance protocol, the owners
reported improvement in Dan’s behavior, although they
remarked that he seemed withdrawn and unhappy. After three and
a half weeks on the dominance program, Dan finally acquiesced
and accepted his “demotion.” He was no longer the
king of the household—now he was the butler! The owners
reported that Dan was more accepting of the new rules and they
felt he was happier than when they began the program. Six months
after instituting the behavior modification and management changes,
the owners were so comfortable with Dan’s newfound compliance
that they began to bend many of the “rules” they
had established. In short order, Dan began to take advantage
of their casual leadership and began to disregard their directives
and occasionally growl if they persisted. The owners instantly
recognized that Dan was reverting back to his old self. They
reinstituted the complete program and Dan quickly responded.
Over time, they were allowed to give Dan access to furniture
by invitation only, but he could not behave with long lasting
delicious food treats so these were eliminated from his routine.
Feline Inappropriate Elimination
Eddy, a 4-year-old, male, declawed domestic short hair
Presenting
Complaint
Eddy, a 4-year-old, male, declawed domestic short hair presented
to Tufts’ Behavior Clinic with inappropriate urination.
Eddy’s owner was not sure when he began urinating outside
of the litterbox, although she knew it became prominent during
the spring. The deposits of urine looked like “coke drink
spills” and were located on the walls of a screened-in
porch and in the library. There were also spots on a radiator,
in and around the sun porch and on the door and the wall of
the mudroom. The owner reported that all of these rooms were
located on the first floor of her house and had windows. The
owner witnessed Eddy expel urine on one occasion and reported
that his “tail quivered, like he was having a spasm.”
Treatment
Rationale
Eddy’s story is a typical case of urine marking. It is
common for this problem to occur in the spring when “love
is in the air.” When questioned, the owner revealed that
Eddy “cried, hissed and urinated” after witnessing
an outside cat through a window. It is likely that Eddy became
stressed by the encounter and felt the need to redefine his
territory by strategically depositing “pee-mail.”
In other words, Eddy was attempting to tell the outside cat
that “this area is mine, so stay away.”
Treatment
Recommendations
The owner was instructed to decrease Eddy’s exposure to
outside cats by deterring these unwanted visitors from approaching
her home. Suggestions to make the perimeter of her house aversive
included using a motion-activated water spray device and leaving
orange peels outside since the citrus scent is unpleasant to
most cats. Also, the owner was educated about the importance
of proper clean up since any untreated urine marks would serve
as a trigger for Eddy to mark the spot again. The owner also
opted to undergo a trial with Prozac, a mood stabilizer that
decreases anxiety and therefore decreases the likelihood of
an anxious response to a stressful situation.
Follow-Up
Eddy’s story ends happily as his owner reported that Eddy’s
urine marking had decreased substantially.
