Clean Run - June 2011 - 22

Stress begins when an animal notices a change in the environment telling him that something exciting or dangerous is going to happen. When a dog is chronically stressed, he is always on alert for the smallest sign of the stimulus that triggers his stress.

Feeding, or more accurately the act of either eating or not eating can tell you a lot about the state a dog is in. Dogs that are under chronic stress often overeat. Dogs that are highly stressed may eat quickly or forcefully. And dogs that are acutely stressed may stop eating altogether. You can use how your dog is eating as a gauge of his arousal level, and use that to determine what can be accomplished at any given time. A dog that refuses to eat is over his threshold, and cannot learn or work. A dog that eats quickly or forcefully may be approaching his threshold and may have difficulty retaining information that you are trying to teach.

Fornicating or humping is a normal behavior, even in spayed and neutered dogs. Normally this is an occasional behavior, but in stressed dogs it may appear to become a sudden obsession. If your dog has begun to hump inappropriate objects (you for instance), or harass other dogs in his home by humping them more than they are willing to tolerate, have a good look for other signs of stress and address those. Punishing humping can lead your dog to engage in other more destructive behaviors such as fighting. Instead, use frequency of humping and targets of humping as an indication of your dog’s stress level.

Wrapping Up
A good agility dog is fast, focused, and partnered with a human who has the chops to train for the game. A great agility dog has one more trait, resilience, or the ability to cope with things that are stressful. Resilient dogs interpret the stresses of agility as a positive aspect of their lives and can relax between events. It is easy to misinterpret perpetual fidgety motion as a fast dog, but the greatest dogs are not only fast, but fidget- and stress-free when it is socially appropriate. In Part 2, we’ll discuss how working together to overcome stress can lead to a better relationship with your agility dog. D

Sue Alexander, CPDT, CDBC owns and operates Dogs in the Park in Guelph, Ontario. In Sue’s Good Dog program she often helps agility clients to overcome stress issues that affect their success in the world of agility. Sue currently competes in obedience and Rally-O and has competed in agility in the past. Sue shares her life with her husband John and their two dogs D’fer and Eco on their micro farm in Breslau, Ontario.
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Clean Run - June 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - June 2011