BehavioRx Case of the Month
for May 2005

Car-bound Aggression

A normally pleasant 2 year-old Miniature, intact male Poodle was the precious pet of an equally  pleasant middle-aged woman. However, "Bubbles" changed personalities whenever the owner was in the car and people walked by closely, meaning within a couple of feet or were very tall. Bubbles had a special pillow bed on the console between the driver and passenger seats.

When the client arrived for her consultation she parked at the head of the driveway, quickly opened the door and deposited Bubbles on the ground, where he happily approached and greeted me, jumping in a friendly manner with his forepaws on my leg.

"So, what's the problem," I asked. Peggy smiled and suggested we put Bubbles in the car so he could demonstrate it. We did, and as I approached the car Bubbles switched from happy to downright vicious, even snarling as he inhaled... a sure sign of extreme aggressive arousal.

Our discussion revealed Peggy had tried about everything most books recommended, including giving Bubbles a tidbit as people approached, petting him and reassuring him, saying "It Ok Bubbles." When she thought about it, our explanation that the reassurance or tidbits were simply reinforcing his hostile 'feelings' about people approaching, even though he hadn't yet launched his hostile behavior, Peggy grasped it quickly and asked, "What else can I do?"

As it worked out, the problem actually started at service station when the attendants cleaned Peggy's windshield. Her initial reactions were to scold Bubbles and hold him on her lap, which only seemed to frustrate him and increase his anger. From then on, for two months, Peggy simply got out of the car quickly and left him to carry on while she shopped, etc. Now, she'd had enough. She genuinely wanted to solve the problem.

The remedial program involved helping Peggy to understand the meaning of true leadership by an owner with a dog, using the learn-to-earn praise and petting regime. She understood that Bubbles was simply doing what he thought was the right thing; i.e., protecting her and "his" territory. However, he needed to learn to feel the way she felt about people outside the car. Peggy was a regular and valued customer at a service station with a great staff, so special set-ups were designed with their cooperation at slow times in the station.

Peggy was taught to use an hand-held ultrasonic device akin to the Bio-Sonic Beanbag, teaching him to come instantly from extreme distractions and to stop any behavior and orient to her when the sound was used without a command, for which Bubbles received happy praise.

Peggy agreed to start the program by parking her car at the curb a half a block away from the station and walking him with her to meet the attendants on duty. She did this and Bubbles made "friends" with them all. She them left the dog at the station, drove in, then picked him up, put him on the car's hood, acting jolly as she helped an attendant clean the windshield. Bubbles was delighted to be part of the duties. Peggy then put him in the car as an attendant pumped about two gallons of gas with Peggy outside chatting pleasantly with him.

Two set-ups later she was able to drive with Bubbles into the station using the Bio-Sonic sound alone to keep his attention on her while she hummed a happy tune,
which he had always enjoyed. The windows were left open so Bubbles could hear the attendants approaching and chatting with Peggy. To everyone's amazement, Bubbles seemed delighted to hear and see the attendants, even though he did leave his little pillow to greet them when they went to the passenger's side.

Peggy then proceeded to her supermarket parking lot, speaking pleasantly to people who approached the car, walking beside them when possible. Although Bubbles did bark initially, it was not an aggressive bark, simply his regular "greeting bark," as Peggy put it. The emotional "ice" was broken and it took only three afternoons of such set-ups in various locations before Bubbles. When Peggy left the area of the car, she heard none of the barking and snarling Bubbles displayed before the program started. She even found bubbles asleep on his pillow after she had to be away for more than an hour.

The principles of Leadership, allowing the dog to meet people off the home (car) territory, seeing his leader alongside, pleasantly interacting with outsiders and
jolly, positive emotional reinforcement, all came together to change Bubble's attitude and, hence, his behavior.

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