Hallgren Mental Activation

Ways to stimulate your dog's brain and avoid boredom
1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-0-85788-668-2
Verlag: Cadmos Verlag
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Wasserzeichen (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 96 Seiten

Dogs need to encounter and overcome physical and mental challenges to remain happy and well. Unless this fundamental need is met, the dog will be inert and passive and may develop behavioural problems. It is therefore every dog-owner's duty to arrange appropriate stimulation for their dog. The reward is a happy and balanced companion who is permitted to express its specific behaviour and who has a close and harmonious relationship with humans. In this book, Anders Hallgren describes simple exercises designed to stimulate and improve your dog's senses. It is not vital that the dog learns to perform these tasks perfectly, but to challenge its mind and intelligence.

The Swedish behaviourist and psychologist Anders Hallgren was one of the world's first dog psychologists. He has worked with dogs for almost forty years, specialising in their behavioural problems. He is famous for his gentle training methods, which have influenced numerous dog trainers and owners all over the world. He has written more than twenty books on dog training and behaviour.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hallgren, Anders

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UNDERSTIMULATION
Why is it so important to stimulate your dog’s mind? So important that there is now a book about it? The foundation of this book’s concept is based on a natural need in every canine, and if this need is not properly taken into account and dealt with, your dog will either become a problem dog or an unhappy dog—or both.   Dogs wait for people to start to play with them. Photo: Prawitz     Dogs do not activate themselves. They wait for their pack mates to take the initiative; if no one does, they become under-stimulated—not very unlike people!     In the spring of 1977 I carried out some research on how active pet dogs are. In the wild, our dogs’ natural relatives and ancestors, such as the wolf, spend many hours every day in motion. I expected to find that pet dogs would live up to their heritage as active animals, at least to some extent. I was also interested in finding out if too little exercise or mental activity, such as obedience and searching, could be related to problematic behaviour.   Hours at rest less than 18 18–20 more than 20 Distr. of dogs: 34 % 27 % 39 % Problems: 47 % 75 % 82 %   Table 1: A study in a normal population of dogs, showing hours at rest and frequency of problematic behaviour.     About 200 dog owners answered a questionnaire which asked them how much time their dogs spent moving around on a normal day, inside the house, in the garden or yard and on walks outdoors. Those who had any kind of problem with their dog’s behaviour were asked to mention this, as well as how serious these problems were. The results are given in Table 1. Almost 40% were inactive for 20 hours or more! The table shows that one-third (34%) of the dogs in this study were active for at least six hours a day, in some way or another. That is to say, they were spending at most 18 hours resting. Some 27% were active for four to six hours (at rest 18 to 20 hours). But most 39%rested for at least 20 hours. The proportion of problematic behaviour was different for the three groups. In the active group, around half (47%) of the owners re­ported behaviour problems; most of them pointed out that these were minor problems. Three-quarters of the dogs in the middle group had behaviour problems, and almost half of the dogs’ owners pointed out that they considered the problems to be severe. In the group with the passive dogs, the incidence of problem behaviour was larger still. A full 82% of the dog owners here re­ported problem behaviour, which a majority regarded as severe.     In 1985 I made a further study, this time look­ing at problem dogs. In most cases I carried out a stress analysis, a tool I had developed that maps the amount of stress factors, among them under-stimulation. Some 342 stress analyses were done; the statistical results are shown in Table 2. The distribution in this group again revealed the importance of under-stimulation as a strong contributing factor behind problems in dogs. 86.5% of the problem dogs were resting more than 20 hours per 24! Indeed, I discovered that 26.3% of the dogs rested 22 hours or more! Some problems, and not so very few, can be cured just by increasing the quantity of activity a dog gets in a day, as illustrated in the following case study. A veterinarian, who had examined her and found nothing medically wrong, referred an 18-month-old Dalmatian bitch. The symptoms were exaggerated scratching all over her body. The stress analysis revealed under-stimulation: she rested nearly 22 hour per 24. The advice was to activate the dog; after two days the scratching was as good as gone.   Hours at rest Distr. of dogs: less than 18 2.6 % 18–20 10.8 % more than 20 86.5 %   Table 2: A study in a population of dogs with problematic behaviour, showing hours at rest.   Many dog-owners regard excessive digging as a disturbed behaviour. Photo: Prawitz     In one small-scale experiment a dog was left alone in an enclosed field, with no one in sight. From a hidden observation place the frequency of his movements was registered for 20 minutes. At that point, another dog, known to him, was introduced for five minutes, and then that dog was taken out and the caretaker was introduced for five minutes. During the first 20 minutes the dog moved around three times, on each occasion for less than one minute, sniffing the ground. Most of the time the dog was sitting or lying down, with an empty expression in his face, waiting. When the other dog was introduced he made two initiatives to play and then become passive again. When his caretaker joined him for five minutes he made 13 initiatives to move around, greeting, playing, exploring the field, marking etc. He was happy and active—not necessarily together with the caretaker, but to a great extent by himself, the caretaker being passive. This shows that dogs need us to be there for them to be active.   Young puppies play extensively with each other, but later on often prefer a person as a playmate. Photo: Prawitz     As far as I know, there has been very little research on under-stimulation as a concept in dogs, although many writers have mentioned activity in wild canines (Mech, 1970; Zimen, 1981) and the need for activity and intellectual stimulation of dogs (Whitney, 1971; Fox, 1974; Trumler, 1984). As Fox (1974) points out: “…there may be few outlets or alternatives for many natural tendencies and basic instincts, so that they may be built up inside....What natural outlets does the pet dog have for hunting, tracking, stalking, biting, shaking and killing prey?....[N]atural tendencies might be controlled through punishment, but that would only bottle things up more.” Fox also mentions that dogs “really need to work [and] ....break away from routine”. Trumler (1984) states that “the determining factor is that learning all these tricks, or work like that of working dogs, principally activates the brain.” Whitney (1971) describes a dog in a kennel, trotting back and forth in his run, five hours every day, averaging 50 miles a day. The conclusion is simple: the more a dog rests, the more surplus energy is built up, and this energy often finds expression in problem behaviour, in many forms and shapes. So the owner wishes that his dog would sleep more … We have to realize that physical activity alone does not tire an individual as much as physical activity combined with mental activity does. Dogs that come home after an hour’s walk with the owner are not very tired—sometimes quite the contrary. But a dog that has spent the same amount of time being trained in obedience, tracking, searching, or has been involved in any other mentally stimulating activity, normally is ex­hausted.     Many dogs are over-active; they display outbursts of energy and sometimes get out of hand. This energy may be due to different causes, but the two most common ones are too much and too intensive physical exercises, like running after balls, Frisbees or other dogs. Not that it is wrong to throw things for your dog to catch, but you must not overdo it. The other is excessive energy stemming from resting too much and not getting enough physical and mental stimulation. Looking at the dog’s ancestors, wolves, we can learn much from the types of activities they engage in (Mech, 1970; Fox, 1975; Lopez, 1978; Hall and Sharp, 1978; Zimen, 1981; Peters, 1985). Our dogs are predisposed to occupy themselves with these or similar activities, and indeed often they have a real need for being physically and mentally active in the same ways.     Sharing many genes with the wolf, the dog is a very active animal, while at the same time being a pack animal, so it does not take many initiatives on its own. As a leader figure and a member of your dog’s “pack”—the family—most of the initiatives must come from you. I can assure you that it will be a pure joy and a fulfilling and instructive experience to watch your dog mature, develop, and become harmonious and mentally satisfied. You may find how easy it can be to get your dog to stop barking, or stop doing other things that you find annoying. You will also be surprised by the new bond with your dog—a level of contact you perhaps never knew could develop. In order to survive in an often tough environment and to get something to eat, a wolf has to cooperate with its pack members. They have to learn hunting techniques, follow trails, observe prey, outwit them, test them, follow them, chase them through rough and steep terrain, face them, attack them, avoid counter-attacks, keep in touch with their fellow pack members, and finally go for the kill. All these activities we have replaced with easy-to-chew, ready-mixed food served...