Case Profile: The European Street Dog
In this case profile, we explore some of the most common behaviours that clients experience in European street dogs and European Rescue imports. An ever increasingly common scenario for many behaviourists, this very variable group of dogs have some surprisingly consistent problem behaviours!
BREED(S): European Street Dog, European livestock guardians, European Hunting Dogs
Owners most commonly see me for: Territorial Reactivity and Aggression to people, dogs, visitors to the home. Livestock worrying/prey drive related recall issues.
Most Common symptoms include: Barking, Lunging, biting people and dogs. High levels of territorial behaviour in and around the home.
Occasional symptoms include: High prey drive, nervous and fearful behaviour. Resource guarding behaviour. Fear of being contained, fear or travelling in the car and/or car sickness.
Case Breakdown: To state the obvious, European rescue dogs can be extremely variable as far as ‘breed’ is concerned. From the smallest to the very largest of dogs, dog owners in the UK are rescuing ever larger numbers of dogs from across continental europe - most commonly Romania, Spain & Greece. So why does such a huge variety of dogs from such a large area typically have very common symptomatic behaviours?
One of the first things to understand is that unlike in the UK, the majority of dogs in european rescue are dogs that are taken off the streets or found roaming in the countryside. The population of strays is much higher in continental Europe, and a large population of dogs exist and breed alongside, but independently of human beings. The other very common scenario when it comes to European rescue is abandoned litters of hunting dogs.
In the street dog population, the genetics of these dogs is highly variable, but consistently contains a mixture of Livestock guardians & shepherding breeds - regardless of the size of the dog. Many of my clients who take genetic tests are often surprised when their 10kg street rescue contains some of the genetics of a carpathian shepherd, but this is the reality of rehoming a dog that has been a mixed breed for many generations. This genetic cocktail is incredibly potent, and the territorial element of these dogs ancestry often only becomes obvious when they are brought home and given a territory to protect. The hunting dog populations are similar in the behaviours they present - many scent and sighthounds, as well as herding dogs find their ways into rescue shelters, with extremely high prey drive (a level that many dog owners have never experienced anything close to before).
In the nature vs nurture battle, nurture also plays a very powerful role in the behaviour that street dogs present. Its essential to appreciate that dogs that live on the streets survive by learning to compete in an environment where there is little to compete over. These dogs do not have territory, a regular supply of food, or human beings to fight over - nor are they in optimal health. But they still learn how to defend what they find, and they carry these skills with them. Shelter environments are ‘multi dog’ pens. Which means sometimes between 10 and 20 dogs are kept together in a pen, where they have to compete for very limited space and food. The key take away here - these dogs are raised by dogs to be really good at competing, with all the genetics to back it up.
When many of these these dogs arrive home, most new owners feel incredibly sorry for them, and focus on making their dogs as comfortable as possible. Unfortunately - these dogs have no idea that they are rescues. All they know is that they’ve been given a huge amount of space, high quality food, toys, treats, and human beings which are incredibly passive with their personal space. Its very common that these dogs within a matter or weeks turn from being highly social to highly possessive and territorial. They come into a home, take over - and do a really good job of keeping the competition away.
Remember as well that these dogs are not raised by people - which is psychologically much healthier for them in that they are normally very psychologically balanced dogs, but it can also be a real issue when coming into a society that has no respect for a dogs personal space, and expects every dog to tolerate over excited, invasive and what they perceive to be threatening behaviour.
Steps towards resolution:
The best way to transition these dogs into a home environment is very slowly, with very limited access to free resources initially. A single room, a safe crate, with managed feeding interactions, play interactions and clear boundaries around personal space is usually an absolute must for these dogs. So - if you want to break all of the rules of the natural world, be over excited, constantly invade your dogs space, have your dog climb all over you when you come home, sleep in your bed, and Instagram their toy box - this is NOT the dog for you! In the same way, if you want one of these street rescues because you feel sorry for them, and you believe that all they need is love and care and affection, these are NOT the dogs for you. These dogs don’t know they’re rescues, don’t want your sympathy or your misunderstanding. They want to be out and about in the world, living, exploring and thriving. They want a clear and consistent pattern to follow with you. They want you to advocate for them when other people don’t understand them and have mismatched expectations about what they can do with your dog. These dogs are genuine, proper, deeply soulful dogs raised by the natural world and they will teach you more about dogs as a species than any breed you can buy. But you have to do things in the natural way, otherwise you will find yourself at serious odds with your goals and reality.
Activities to Practice:
Place Work - an absolute must for managing territorial and possessive tendancies, and teaching your dog to relax in their own space around visitors.
Conflict Resolution System - learn to always follow through to a calm state (sitting down or lying down) whenever you have disagreement or whenever you are teaching through behaviours that are unacceptable.
Spacial Dynamics - learn to claim your personal and intimate space so that you can communicate in your dogs own language.
Exercise plan - make sure you have a solid exercise plan in place so that you can drain energy to help these dogs stay clam, particularly if you have adopted a hunting breed. They’ll need it!
Train With Us in Yorkshire
European Rescue dogs can be incredibly rewarding to own, or a huge challenge - and we know how important it is to get quality help with these dogs quickly, before they begin to take over your life. If you’re local to Yorkshire and the North East, we’d love to speak to you.
We had a phone consultation with James regarding our reactive rescue dog. He was so calm, kind and knowledgable it really reassured us! There’s so much conflicting information out there, to talk to an expert and have our questions answered was priceless. I would absolutely recommend a call with James if you feel confused or overwhelmed about taking the first steps to help your dog.
James has made such a huge difference to our rescue hound Jack. His approach is structured, calm, professional and so re-assuring. His assessment of where Jack is at any time in his life with us has been so accurate and has helped explain just how our behaviour and interaction with our dog can make our life together so much better. We could not recommend him highly enough, a real game changer.
I would like to thank the trainers for their help and support. After just one session Cloe (rescue dog age 5) is walking with the figure of 8 lead it was such a pleasure taking her for her walk not to be dragged along. I can now take Cloe for walks safe for me and her. Thank you Kathy & Cloe I am adding more to my post as my first session was only an hour (Ste & James felt we needed to practice the first session) so my 2nd session was yesterday and it was equally as good as the first, not only is the practical side invaluable but the knowledge you get it great. We have been helped a great deal and would highly recommend. Thank you again to you both looking forward to mre videos on the members page. Just an added note being a member is very worthwhile especially life time.
The wrong side of collecting a pension, a dog that was supposed to be easier than all the rescues I had owned - but turned out to be a nightmare, remorselessly biting every person and every dog in the household. I knew I needed help, so after a lot of research and frankly unhelpful information, I found James. I was no longer alone and for the first time I believed that with work, the problem was solvable. James explained to me why Dina the dog was behaving so badly. Most importantly, he explained to me what to do about it. And it worked. Please if you have real problems with your dog get in touch with James - he truly understands dogs, is non-judgmental and he offers solutions. Worth every penny.
We needed help with our very reactive (to all dogs) rescue Norman, and indeed, James admitted he was the second worst case he's ever dealt with! After several sessions and a home visit, I'm now able to walk with my friend and her border terrier, which I never would've thought possible. Although we still can't yet pass a dog on the same side of the street, Norman is much better than he was. James is so patient and generous with his time, and we are so glad we visited him. Thank you James! Helen and Mick
We adopted a rescue dog mid December and soon realised that he had a few problems. We contacted the dogs way for help. We have since had two training sessions and are amazed at how far we and our dog have come in this time. We are going to continue to use the dogs way to help us and our dog in the future. We would recommend the dogs way to anyone looking to get help with their dog with anything.
We got in touch with James after a google and reading the positive reviews. It was truly the best thing we ever did for our dog Ollie, and for us. We had tried 2 trainers previously, but were still in a difficult place with Ollie who was very reactive on the lead to other dogs. James met us for a 3 hour session and instantly could provide us with incredible knowledge on why Ollie was reactive and what we can do to let him know that is not what we want him to do when he sees other dogs. Since that one session, Ollie has come a long way. We avoided walking on popular dog walking routes and would get up at the crack of dawn to avoid other dogs, but now we are able to walk Ollie confident in our knowledge of how to firstly prevent Ollie reacting and secondly how to respond when he does. We cannot recommend James enough, he has improved our relationship with our dog and understanding that actually he is a confident teenage boy rather than the anxious and scared dog we thought we had! Thank you James!
I can't recommend James enough! I have had dogs for 40 years, all of them rescues and as anyone who has done that will know each one comes with their own issues...( So I mostly know what I'm doing 😉) Well this time I knew I needed some help and saw James website, I liked what he had to say and called, he was extremely helpful on the phone and we booked a 2 hour appointment. Jessie is a rescue that came to us just 5 weeks ago ( still a puppy at not quite 1yr old) her previous owners couldn't cope with her as she was extremely unsocialized, fearful and anxious of everything which makes her appear aggressive, she couldn't walk past another person or dog at the beginning of our session without throwing herself around barking and crying to the point that we worried she would hurt herself. James was a godsend! His calm and caring attitude towards Jessie ( and ourselves) has helped us emmensly, by the end of our walk she was much calmer ( not cured yet but calm enough now for us to be able to continue her training) Considering I have fostered numerous dogs (most ex puppy farm breeders )and every one of our own dogs have had issues I found it hard to ask for help but I am so pleased I did. If you are debating whether to call then please don't hesitate, he is worth every penny and more. Thank you James
If you are having any issues with your dog, don’t wait, give James a call. We only wish we had found him months earlier! We’d literally got to the end of our tethers with our Romanian rescue (also called Charlie!), he had become increasingly aggressive (barking, snarling, lunging) at just about anything that moved – people, children, cars and dogs. So much so we’d not been able to take him anywhere where there were any of the above, for literally months! We were also not able to leave him in the house on his own as he would destroy stuff and don’t even mention the postman! From the first phone consultation, I knew James was different, everyone else had told us to keep him calm and avoid triggers, James was telling us to meet him at a really busy park that was going to be full of dogs, children and people! After his initial meeting with Charlie (where we were very grateful Charlie had his muzzle on!) James quickly summed him (and us!) up. During our very first session with James, Charlie went from the above description to one that could walk round the park, past dogs, screaming children and gangs of adults without even turning a hair. There were still some dogs that he reacted to but we were able to nip it in the bud without it becoming a major incident. The very next day I was able to leave Charlie in the house by himself and following homework, he has become less reactive to passers by and cars and is much calmer all round. James is massively insightful, very knowledgeable, a great teacher, very kind (to both the dog and their humans!) and does some brilliant dog impressions - a true dog whisperer if ever there was one!
Cassie is a rescue from Romania, she’d been with us for 7 months and probably had no socialisation with people. Initially she was that terrified she wouldn’t leave her crate, but after a couple of months began barking at adults and children on walks, chasing runners, cyclists and anything that moved; I was getting more anxious with every walk. She also began barking at my partner in our home each time he entered the room. James was recommended by a fellow dog walker. We booked a three hour session, James immediately picked up on Cassie’s issues (fear/aggression) and we got to work! His analysis of Cassie, and our behaviour toward her, was very insightful and gave us a huge amount of information to work with. After gaining Cassie’s trust he showed us how to walk with her and communicate via the training leash (which was very kindly gifted to us from James as part of the session). He showed us how to calm Cassie and how to read her level of excitement. We practised walking on the beach with her off a leash (something we could never do for fear of her running off) which was incredible after just an hour or so. James was very patient and diplomatic, his understanding of dogs is fascinating and gave us a completely different perspective on Cassie, and how best to help her. What we felt important was his tailoring of the session and the activities to suit Cassie’s specific issues, not just cookie cutter exercises that you might find at a dog training class. After the session James sent an incredibly detailed run down for us to reference when needed. He has been very helpful via e-mail and has also been able to help us with Cassie's fear of the dark and car travel problems. Cassie's issues with barking outside and in the home were greatly reduced as James exercises with building Cassie's confidence began to work. We don’t feel at a total loss now when we run into her behavioural problems, we feel we have a selection of methods to guide her and build her confidence. We now highly recommend James to our dog walking friends.
