BehavioRx Case of the Month
for November 1999

An Unruly Dog

An 8-month-old, spayed female Labrador Retriever jumped uncontrollably on people when the owners arrived home from work and when guests came to the house. The owners had put her on a leash when guests arrived, to no avail, since she then started growling as she lunged at them. Thereafter she was put out into the yard or in a bedroom. The veterinarian had wisely done complete blood, stool and urine work-ups. The only abnormality discovered was elevated blood cortisol. Otherwise, she
was deemed in excellent health.

In consultation we discovered the dog slept in a crate at night and while the owners were at work or away from home. This had been the practice since she was 9 weeks old as an aid to housetraining and to avoid chewing, etc. When the hours were totaled, the dog was spending more than two-thirds of her life in the crate. Elevated levels of serum cortisol are one indicator
of stress.

The clients were told about the value of human leadership in calming dogs and she was put on the learn-to-earn [no free lunch] praise and petting program. When they understood how close confinement can create stress, they were amenable to testing the dog free in the house.

We explained that dogs will usually sleep all night when they are with their sleeping owners. They moved the crate to their bedroom and left its door open at night. She slept most of the night, only leaving the crate to stretch and shake herself a few times.

We then suggested trying some short departures on the weekend at the times they normally go to work:

They to got the things together which they normally took to work, then sat quietly in the room of the house where the Lab was likely to stay in their absence, and totally ignored her until she settled down. The dog's chew toys, etc., were left there, too. Then they quietly got up and left, said nothing, made no eye-contact. They got into the car and drove away, leaving the Lab for a half an hour. When they returned the Lab was at the door and started to jump, but they ignored her, went about their business for five minutes and then quietly said hello when she had settled down.

This went so well they did it again in the afternoon, staying away for an hour, with the same result. They tested her again, three times, on Sunday, the longest time away being two and one-half hours. The dog was progressively more calm on each test. So they decided to repeat the procedure on Monday.

Monday's homecoming was a different matter; the dog had obviously gotten onto their bed and slept, at least for a short time. The bed clothes were ruffled, but unscathed. She had also spent some time on the couch in the den, because a throw pillow was on the floor. The toilet paper had been pulled down in the bathroom. But no real damage was found. They ignored the
pillow and toilet paper roll, replacing these when the dog was in the back yard. The dog was also very excited when they arrived home, but the clients ignored her again until she settled down. By week's end the Lab stopped jumping on them at homecoming. The clients used the BehavioRx Instruction brochure system for jumping on guests and we expect them to live happily ever after.

Previous Cases

October 1999
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December 1998
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