• Nadine Whittal, dog trainer writes:
This week I had an enlightening experience with my own dog that I would like to share just in case you bump into your own weird anomalies with your own dogs.
My dogs have been taking part in training since I got them. They absolutely love it and tend to jump into training with gusto.
The past month, however, my Jack Russel, Dusty, has been behaving a little bit strangely at training. He enjoyed the first one or two times we would practise an exercise, and then he would just stop and stare at me. He was refusing both treats and toys as a reward, which is particularly strange for any dog.
I went through a number of different exercises to try and fix this. At first, I tried swapping between treat and toy to keep him interested. When that did not work, I tried changing the treats.
I tried a few different things to see if he responded better to one rather than the other. Also, no response.
I also tried changing the time of his classes. Dusty struggles with night blindness so I attempted to ensure he was training in the light in case the night blindness was affecting him. Again, no real improvement was seen. Finally, I tried ignoring him. For a few days, I minimised the attention he was getting from me so that he would be more appreciative of spending time with me. Again, I did not see any real improvement.
Eventually, I asked a friend of mine, who is training to become a dog physiotherapist. She examined Dusty and low and behold, Dusty started snapping at her. He was in pain and the examination was hurting him. It would also mean that any of the exercises we were doing would have been causing him pain.
As a dog trainer, I kicked myself for not getting him examined. I know that dog behaviour does not change without reason and I also know that the most common reason for a change in behaviour is health. So, here is a pro dog-training tip to all you handlers out there – health before behaviour. Always check that your dog is not hurting before you start checking for other reasons for a behavioural change.
