BehavioRx Case of the Month
for July 2006

When People Argue

A young couple, married two years, arrived with a 20 month old, intact, male Great Dane. "Trojan" had started growling at the husband when "Dan" entered any room where " Sally" was present. They reported they had tried everything they had read about to get Trojan to stop, including putting him in another room for "time-outs," scolding, spanking him (when it first started at 6 months old), making him "Sit-Stay, leashing him to a door knob, etc." Everything seemed to be making it worse. Trojan had started snarling and even lunged at Dan several times in the past week. Hence, our appointment, which followed a thorough veterinary examination resulting in a clean bill of health.

Trojan was basically pleasant and friendly when our consultation began. During the fact-finding phase I was called out of the office for an important phone call. On re-entering the office, I was greeted by a changed Trojan. He snarled at me as I walked by the couple to take my seat. Dan and Sally jointly scolded him, say, "No Trojan, bad dog." Sally grabbed Trojan's collar, which only made him more agitated. I, as calmly as possible, asked Sally to gently release the collar, at which time Trojan stopped the snarl and softly growled.

I asked Sally if this was about what happened when Dan entered rooms at home. She replied, "Exactly."

Our consultation then took a turn toward the relationship between Sally and Dan, especially regarding disagreements between them. They confided that they had been having some serious arguments regarding Sally's job and daily overtime she had been putting in, which started about the time Trojan's behavior changes toward Dan cropped up. However, the arguments began at bedtimes, usually in the bedroom, where Trojan slept on his own mat.

Both Sally and Dan smiling as they began to analyze their own problem. "So, do we just have to stop arguing in front of the dog," Dan asked.

"That could be the answer, if his snarls start when the arguments start, but I have a feeling that his defensive/aggressive feelings result more from body-language than from angry words," I said.

"Dan's the one who is really excited in arguments. He gets right in my face," Sally offered with a smile.

"Guilty," Dan sheepishly admitted.

The stage was set for a remedial program, which involved a voluntary suspension of arguments about Sally's job hours, Sally stating that she would stop the overtime or change jobs, since it was beginning to affect their marriage and that rehabilitating
Trojan would be worth it.

Their 6-week program mainly involved both Sally and Dan gaining emotional Leadership with Trojan, using the BehavioRx System brochure instructions for Obedience Training - A primer, Aggression to Owners, Overprotectiveness and changing Trojan's diet from his regular high-carbohydrate one to a low-carb, high-protein/fat animal meat type. The diet change was due to Trojan's over-reactions to sounds and movements, which became apparent during our consultations.

Outcome? Trojan, Sally and Dan worked things out beautifully. They re-contacted us when their first child was due in order to find out if anything special needed to be done to make sure the dog didn't get upset by a newcomer to the family. Once again, a
BehavioRx Instruction brochure from their veterinarian, Babies, New Pets and Dogs, was faithfully applied and little "April" was warmly accepted into the fold.

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