Cedar City Dog Training: Feral Children and Why Your Dog Probably Wasn't Abused by a Man

It's probably the most common thing I hear day to day as a dog trainer: "My dog was abused by a man" or "We think our dog was abused by a man." Ask any other trainer) regardless of their training style) if they have heard these phrases before and I'd be willing to that this is also a top contender for them as well.

While abuse is very real and should not be minimized, it's actually pretty rare for bona-fide indisputable abuse to happen anymore (compared to, say, 50 years ago). And when I say abuse, I mean hitting, kicking, starving, "helicoptering," long term containment, etc. Over the past century, dogs have rapidly changed places from the agricultural tool that people simply shot if it misbehaved badly enough to the valued members of the family that they are today. People are starting to see dogs as the sentient beings they are, with thoughts, feelings, and needs unique to them as well as comparable to ours. Many people even place dogs above people- so it's no wonder that people tend to feel strongly about their dog and everything that happens to him or her. It's only because of how much people cherish their dogs that their mind gravitates to the story of a man abusing them as the reason for their dog's man-centric expressions of fear, aggression, and avoidance- because they want to help their dog, be sensitive to their experience, and feel like they are making a difference in the world by improving the life of a rescue.

But the great news is that the vast majority of the time, their dog's insecurity with men has nothing to do with abuse! Fear of men is extremely common, and it is usually caused by "socialization" deficits- meaning, the dog just didn't have enough positive to neutral exposures of men outside their home during a certain age range (6-16 weeks) to feel confident about them. This is actually a really good thing, because when abuse does occur, it leaves lasting mental and emotional scars that can result in some pretty extreme behavior that may be difficult or impossible to "fix."

It may be surprising that not getting enough exposures to men caused Fluffy to bite scary "Uncle Bob" at Thanksgiving- I hear you! I think it's always helpful to go back to science when behavior appears on the surface to not make sense. Here is a quick lesson! Pretty much all animals, especially mammals, go through what's called a "critical period" (also called socialization window, critical socialization window/period, sensitive period, etc). This means that there is a certain time frame in an animal's life where the brain is constructing their concept of "reality." Animals construct most of their view of what reality is, including what is a threat and what is not, during this time even though the window is just a blip in their life. For dogs this window is between 6 and 16 weeks of age. It's possible for animals to gain new information after this window closes, but it may take a long time to integrate and that information may never fully integrate into their default reality construct.

Take, for instance, "Feral Children." Humans are still developing their concept of reality, of relationships, of communication, of cause and effect, and safety from birth until about 5 years old when the personality and cognitive ability really starts to solidify. Some experts say this window extends to about 8 years old. But details aside, what we know about human child development is that we get a really strange result when humans are kept isolated from the world, are provided dull environments, or undereducated during this time. If you spend some time googling "Feral Children," what you will find is well-documented horrendous stories of neglect or child abandonment- where children were raised alone in basements, abandoned and living with wildlife or homeless on the streets, raised in an exclusive cult, etc. Many of these cases also included abuse, but human abuse victims that had otherwise normal upbringings tend to still turn out better than "Feral Children". For the children that were rescued from these conditions and re-integrated into society, basically all of them came with major social and communication problems, cognitive abnormalities and delays, and even health problems. While these individuals often made some progress re-integrating with society, nearly all of them had lasting complications and were never able to get to a "normal" baseline like their peers.

Certainly, while keeping your puppy at home and not taking it out into the world until three or four is not the same as the kind of abuse and neglect typical of Feral Child cases, we have learned a lot from the study of these people and animals at large about how reality is constructed and how the brain decides to confront things in the environment. Certainly, some brains are more capable of confronting things that are new or strange than others. Many dogs that were never socialized at all come out as the best dog ever, totally unaffected by new and strange things. Often, this is a hallmark of good genetics (at least on the behavior side). Other dogs are heavily socialized and still come out with problems of emotional regulation, recovery and resiliency, and problems reliably identifying threats. Each individual organism is a cocktail of nature (genetics) combined with nurture (experiences).

So beyond the scientific mumbo jumbo, what's the big deal about men anyway? Why are dog's almost universally less secure with men initially than they are with women? I'm sure there are studies out there that really get into the sticks- but here is my educated guess based on what I personally observe in my professional dog training practice. Men tend to look, smell, and act different than their female counterparts. Dogs are capable of detecting about a tablespoon of bleach in an olympic sized swimming pool (whether they will readily have awareness of and indicate a scent is another conversation). Men smell extremely "testosterony" compared to a woman. In the animal world this kind of scent is very powerful and governs a lot of major decisions made by animals regarding safety, mating, resources, status, etc. Men also tend to walk with a more powerful stride, are typically taller and bulkier than females, and are often much louder with deeper voices. Men also tend to wear more hats and even sunglasses than females do, which can be yet another scary or strange thing to an undersocialized dog. Men are also often in uniform such as mail carriers, which may be upsetting to a dog. I think it is also worth mentioning that most breeders of dogs tend to be women, and then once dogs are placed in homes women tend to the their main caretakers and decision makers.

Although it's definitely not as harrowing of a story for a dog to be undersocialized or have hit the genetic instability jackpot versus having been abused by a man and narrowing escaping into a heroic home- it's worth understanding how not jumping to conclusions can help you in training. As I mentioned previously, caring for a canine abuse survivor is often a lifetime commitment and often the resulting problems are serious and may not be "fixable." It therefore does not do a dog any favors to assume this kind of history is the case when we look at behavior. Generally speaking, we tend to make a diagnosis of a dog's behavior based on facts alone as well as what is most typical for dogs to have experienced. When we implement a behavior modification plan, we do so hoping for the best unless we have cold hard facts to tell us otherwise! The best things we can do for our dogs is NOT assume abuse, so we can set the bar high for them and hold them accountable. Let's empower our dogs and expect that they can reach the stars, instead of getting hung up on the sad story we created for them. All you can do either way is focus on your dog's behavior as it is now- the past is the past!

So if your dog is afraid of men, what can you do about that? Fortunately dog training is more sophisticated than ever and there are a lot of options. Training is going to look a little different for each dog, so the best thing to do first is contact a professional dog trainer in Southern Utah or your area who can help you in person.

Solutions will vary; asking for certain obedience skills in the presence of men; receiving food, praise, or play in the presence of men, joining a training club (such as GRC Dog Sports) or dog training group class where men are available to view or meet. Your trainer will be able to tell you what your dog's needs are! Sometimes they will just explain that it is easier to keep scary "Uncle Bob" away from the dog, as he only comes around once a year on Christmas! If you are not working directly with a trainer yet, I would caution you against pushing your dog too far out of their comfort zone- keep things light and fun until you have someone to help you safely increase the difficulty level of your training. Remember that dealing with fear is often best done in stages- so maybe have men toss your dog a treat quietly from a distance away instead of trying to hand feed food directly to your dog's mouth. When dealing with fear behavior, we often try to push the line of what is outside the dog's comfort zone without having them go "over threshold" and lose control as much as possible. And most of all- if your dog is a "bite risk" they should always be wearing a secure muzzle.

Even if your dog does not often meet men (which could actually be factoring into the problem), I would highly recommend getting help from a trainer as soon as you notice a problem. Men exist everywhere in the world! You never know when you'll have unexpected male guests in a family emergency, have to travel, need to go to the vet (who are very often male), have a new nosey neighbor come through your gate, etc! Whenever you see concerning behavior from your dog, including growling, posturing, barking, biting, etc, it's best to deal with it sooner rather than later. Dogs don't grow out of behavior, they grow into it!

If you're ready to start tackling your dog's fear of men, we'd love to help you! Just click this link to fill out an application.