Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats (34 page)

How can we, if we wish to be caring and responsible, address the inevitable conflicts between animals and people? I say start by considering the viewpoints and needs of all concerned—both humans and animals. Often a pet problem results from conflicting views on how animals should behave. For example, the person that loves his dog might think it’s most natural, and therefore best, for his dog to roam freely; the neighbors, however, think the dog should be confined because it causes problems when allowed to do so. In other cases, a person has definite ideas about how his pet should act—but the
animal’s
ideas are different, and the expected behavior is highly unnatural.

First let’s look at various ideas about how companion animals can best fit into human communities. Once we are clear on our basic standards, we can work out our differences with our pets.

WHAT IS APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR FOR PETS?

Certain rules for pet behavior are pretty clear. That’s because we apply the same standards to ourselves. We do not permit:

• Jumping on, biting, scratching, chasing, attacking, or other aggression (except in defense against real threats).
  
• Excessive noise.
  
• Messes or destruction (especially inside the house or on someone else’s property).
  
• Trespassing onto another’s territory.
  

I list these because I’ve often seen people stand by as their dogs barked threateningly at harmless strangers or relieved themselves on a neighbor’s lawn. To excuse such behavior by saying, “Well, dogs will be dogs,” is not acceptable. Of course, we can’t expect dogs to be just like us, but we can expect they will be controlled by those responsible for them and, at the very least, that owners will clean up after them. After all, they are living in a human community—not the other way around.

Numerous towns have laws that require dogs to be on a leash when not on their own property. But many people resent such interference with their pets’ freedom. Well-intended as this attitude toward animals’ rights might be, it overlooks the very real problems created by large numbers of dogs and cats on the loose in an environment quite unlike a natural habitat. Completely dependent on humans, these animals exist in our communities in numbers far greater than a natural ecosystem could support. As a result, these animals endanger both the community and themselves in several ways.

• More than a million dogs and cats are killed by cars in the United States annually. Unconfined pets also
  cause
  thousands of car accidents every year when people swerve or brake to avoid hitting them.
  
• Every year at least a million people are bitten by dogs in the United States, making dog bites our second most commonly reported public health problem. A survey revealed that people in some areas of Pittsburgh feared being bitten by roaming packs of dogs as much as they feared being mugged. Dogs harass elderly people carrying groceries as well as young children with lunch bags.
  
• Free-roaming dogs kill or injure wildlife, livestock, and other pets. I’ve treated my share of small dogs and cats chewed up by such packs. The people responsible for the attacking dogs usually have no idea what the family dog really does on an afternoon romp. Too many cats prowling through a neighborhood can also be a menace to birds, small wildlife, and each other.
  
• Pets excrete a huge amount of body waste into the environment, much of it deposited in public places and on neighbors’ lawns. These wastes can transmit harmful organisms to humans through sandbox play and gardening. They can also ruin a good lawn.
  
• Wandering pets may fall victim to poisons, sometimes intentionally placed. More often they become victims when their scavenging instincts unavoidably merge with our toxic world—ingesting antifreeze, pesticides, decaying road kills, and bait for wildlife control.
  
• Others may be kidnapped. Every year in the United States hundreds of thousands of dogs and cats are nabbed and sold to research labs, where they may be subjected to painful experiments and used as bait to train dogs for illegal dog-fighting. Millions of other lost pets are impounded by animal control agencies. Usually, they are held for several days so that they may be claimed. But if a pet is frequently allowed to roam for long periods of time, then that pet’s absences (especially cats) may not be noticed until it is too late and the animal has been euthanized.
  
• On the loose, unaltered pets freely follow their mating instincts. Competing males may engage in bloody and occasionally fatal fights. Multiplying far beyond the carrying capacity of either the natural ecosystem or our society, only about one in six of the millions of puppies and kittens born yearly in this country will find a home.
  

Government attempts to cope with animal control problems are a significant public expense, costing taxpayers many millions of dollars a year—in addition to untold private expenses for injuries, damaged property, and protective measures.

Let’s look at how to get our animals to understand and agree to some basic behaviors that will enable them to live successfully in the human community. The issues and the solutions differ a bit for dogs and cats, so let’s take up each in turn. I’ll start with dogs, who are much more apt to cause problems for our neighbors than cats are.

CONTROLLING YOUR DOG

Responsible care of a dog starts with confining him to your property at all times, unless he’s under your direct control and supervision. This doesn’t mean to just lock him in the house or garage or tie him up outside. Your neighbor’s desire for privacy might be satisfied, but your dog’s natural needs for attention and exercise would be frustrated. This plan might even backfire, because frustrated and unhappy pets are the ones most likely to develop behavioral problems, such as destructiveness or excessive
barking. (Some people have their dogs “debarked”—an operation that removes the vocal cords, one which I personally will not perform, since dogs can be trained not to bark excessively.)

My parents lived for years next to a poor dog that was chained to a post in the back yard all year round and who spent most of his time barking and yowling at the top of his lungs—day after day after day. Talking to the neighbors did no good, and my dad often took food over to the dog out of pity for him. It is hard to realize that nothing could be done about a situation like this. As it stands now, this is not illegal and the neighbors were not breaking any laws. Dogs are considered property and they can be treated like this with impunity.

When your pet is in your yard, be sure to provide a snug shelter or install a pet door that allows him to go in and out of the house at will. Ideally, you should have a securely fenced yard to keep your dog from roaming when he’s outdoors. If you tie him to a stake, the chain can tangle, limiting your pet’s range and possibly endangering him. Barking and aggression are likely to result—as with the situation my parents faced. If fencing is impractical, clip his leash to a metal ring that slides along a clothesline or suspended cable. This allows greater freedom of movement with less likelihood of tangling. Or you could construct a large pen. Some people install Invisible Fence or other electric systems that train a dog to stay within its boundaries. Aggressive dogs, however, have been known to overstep the boundary in response to strong temptations. Another limitation of invisible electric fences compared to physical ones is that they don’t keep other dogs or people out, so your dog is still at risk of being stolen or attacked by another dog.

Such electronic fencing systems rely on a wire buried around the perimeter of the yard; if the dog tries to go past the wire, it triggers a mild electric shock in a special collar. It does not harm the dog but is uncomfortable, and they soon learn not to do it. I knew of one dog, however, that so desired to get out that he would endure the discomfort anyway. Knowing the shock was coming, he would start making crying sounds at the point he decided he was going to “go for it”—well before he could feel anything. That didn’t stop him from making the run and getting away, though. He would start crying as he started his run, getting louder as he approached the barrier, and with a final yelp would leap out of the yard and on to freedom. My client tried two electronic collars on him at the same time, both to no avail.

If you don’t have a yard, choose one of the breeds that are relatively sedate or small and adapt well to a life spent largely indoors. But many dogs are more naturally active, exploratory, and hardy and strongly desire to be outdoors. With such a dog, you need to make a commitment to regular, vigorous walks and lots of attention. All dogs do best with daily walks—which are good for you,
too! So you must be sure to teach your dog how to behave on an outing. This includes his walking on a leash without pulling you and without jumping on, barking at, or chasing any humans or animals encountered on the way. If he is well behaved, you may be able to let your dog loose under your supervision in some areas. (Be sure to bring a scooper and a bag to clean up after him wherever you go.) Many communities provide “dog parks” just for that purpose, where your dog can run freely and socialize with other dogs.

Make sure your dog always wears a current license and identification in case he should get loose. If he were to get lost and impounded, a license would be the key to his safe return. Always include a current phone number and address on the tag. People are more willing to help return a lost pet if you can be reached easily. A tagged animal also stands a better chance of receiving necessary medical care.

A new way of identifying animals is the injectable “micro-chip.” These are small electronic circuits that can be put under the skin with a needle (they are that small—about the size of an uncooked grain of rice). They sit under the skin permanently and when the proper scanner is used, a code will identify the animal. A phone call will unite the lost pet with its person. As far as I can determine, there is no harmful effect from using them.

When you’re home together, give your pup lots of affection. Most important, build a relationship together that allows you to leave him relaxed and comfortable when you must part. In fact, to have a wonderfully well-behaved dog, you need only to understand a few basic principles about what it takes for him to feel secure and to cooperate fully. From that foundation, you can teach your dog all he needs to know. While a comprehensive training program is beyond the scope of this book, I can present an overview.

WHY WE NEED A WIDE-ANGLE VIEW OF CANINE CULTURE

It’s essential to understand the deeper emotional makeup of your pet as a species. Of course, our pets have much in common with us emotionally (one reason we share our lives with them), but each understands the world through its own very different dog or cat senses. Unless we interact with them with these inborn traits in mind, we achieve limited results, or even trigger behavior problems.

With our pets, we share a need for affection and for rewarding interactions with other creatures and our environment. In the same way that a healthy diet is the foundation for your animal’s physical health, a steady “diet” of positive interactions with you and with the world is essential for your pet’s psychological health, and the key to a peaceful relationship for both of you. These emotional needs are just as continual and demanding as physical needs. We wouldn’t consider letting our pets go unfed for several
days at a time, but an animal’s desire for attention often goes unmet for that long.

Social needs are especially important for dogs. Just as some species need a particularly high level of protein in order to thrive, the dog must have a steady diet of happy social encounters. He also needs a clear, trustworthy leader in his immediate family. These two traits evolved strongly in wolves, enabling them to hunt and live together cooperatively, which enhanced their chances of survival. Dogs are not wolves, but they are likely descended from them and are very, very similar in their behavior. They have inherited this need for social order from their ancestors.

Most people have heard about the importance of playing the role of “alpha wolf” in the “pack” that now includes you, your dog, and your family. The concept is that every pack of wolves or dogs must have one established leader that looks out for the whole group.

Unfortunately, this useful idea is sometimes misunderstood. The alpha-wolf role is misinterpreted as a macho, tough guy in a heavy-handed boss/servant relationship. Few of us had this in mind when we decided to get a dog. We wanted a companion, not a slave. You don’t have to dominate your dog (in fact, domination is both unnecessary and possibly even dangerous), but you do have to be a responsible leader.

If you neglect this role of leader or don’t make it clear on a consistent basis, you’re being unfair to your dog. That’s because he will feel compelled to fill the leadership vacancy himself. Since he’s a dog living in a human world, it is impossible for him to do this successfully. The normal behaviors of a dog doing his best to lead will get him in all kinds of serious trouble in our society. He may become aggressive to visitors, children, other dogs, and even to you. He may bark excessively, run away, not come when called, or be overprotective of food, toys, or the family car. He may pull on the leash or jump on people. If we try to correct these behaviors, the dog will get irritated with us because, for subordinates, we are acting way out of line. Then he tries to correct us, and we get more upset—which gets him more upset.

Dogs have a strong desire for stability. So when we accidentally signal to a dog that he is to act as a leader, then later reprimand him for doing so, we can upset his mental stability and derail his predictability. Unfortunately, this situation exists in many caring households. Unless we understand the dog’s point of view and adapt our efforts to it, things won’t improve.

Eternal vigilance is the leader’s primary responsibility. He must be concerned with every sound, every stimulus, every change in the environment. When it’s clear that someone else is in charge, a dog is apt to go sleep in a corner. But if he’s trying to take care of his pack, he notices everything. He’d like to react, to investigate, but he can do very little because he’s confined.