Whether it’s leaping up at strangers, tugging on a lead or disappearing into the space, the UK’s pandemic puppies are nonetheless within the doghouse, a survey has revealed.
Research by the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has added to rising considerations that many house owners who acquired a puppy in the course of the top of the Covid pandemic are battling their canine’s behaviour as they attain 21 months.
Among different findings, a fifth of householders surveyed reported their canine had eight or extra downside behaviours, akin to pulling on the lead, clinginess or aggression, whereas 33% of householders discovered coaching their canine tougher than anticipated – one thing that was extra frequent amongst first-time homeowners.
Dr Rowena Packer, lecturer in companion animal behaviour and welfare science on the RVC, and lead writer of the examine, stated a key downside is that many individuals didn’t do sufficient analysis, and have been unaware of the extent of duty concerned in coaching their canine.
She stated: “I think a lot of new owners go in with very high hopes [of] their dog’s behaviour and then when they realise actually training is quite tough, that’s where a third of them were really struggling.”
Another downside, stated Packer, is the pattern to mission human ideas and emotions on to dogs – for instance labelling sure behaviours as naughty.
“Dogs don’t come off the shelf ready to know how to spend a day walking around on a lead meeting other dogs, going into social spaces with other people – all these things need to be taught,” she stated.
However, not all struggling homeowners are inexperienced.
Phil Wright, 59, from Southport, owned quite a few labradors earlier than he welcomed sisters Scout and Harper into his home as puppies in February 2020.
He stated: “I didn’t anticipate any problems. But I didn’t anticipate lockdown either.”
Both his black labradors at the moment have extreme separation nervousness, with Scout howling if he leaves the home, in addition to problematic behaviour on the lead akin to barking – notably in the event that they see a small canine.
“They can pull me over,” stated Wright.
“The separation anxiety definitely stems from me being around so much during lockdown. Likewise the behaviour on lead [is] due to lack of socialisation during lockdown,” he added.
According to UK Pet Food, in 2023 there have been round 12 million pet dogs within the UK, with some data suggesting there was a surge in puppy ownership during the height of the Covid pandemic.
However, the RVC survey reveals Wright isn’t alone in going through difficulties. Out of greater than 1,000 UK canine homeowners, 97% reported their canine had not less than one downside behaviour from an inventory of 24, whereas on common homeowners reported 5 issues.
The most typical downside was pulling on the lead – reported by round two-thirds of contributors – with leaping up and poor recall in second and third place respectively.
Overall, management issues have been the commonest kind of bother – being reported by 84% of contributors – nevertheless 25% reported their canine had aggressive behaviours.
The latest outcomes are a part of an ongoing mission by the RVC that follows a gaggle of dogs purchased as young puppies in 2020, in the course of the Covid pandemic.
While the examine was not capable of evaluate the prevalence of downside behaviours amongst pandemic puppies with their prevalence amongst dogs acquired earlier than or after the pandemic, Packer stated comparisons with different datasets suggests a normal elevation of points among the many pandemic puppy cohort.
The staff add one space of concern is that, whereas 96% of householders used constructive reinforcement akin to reward to coach their canine, 82% used a number of punishment-based strategies akin to choke chains, shouting or pushing their canine – strategies that may truly trigger additional behavioural points.
Such approaches, they observe, gave the impression to be extra frequent in homeowners who had not attended on-line puppy lessons in the course of the pandemic.
Packer added homeowners reported turning to associates, household and even social media for recommendation on canine coaching, however that lots of the latter advocate punishment-based strategies.
“These owners are struggling but they’re not actually reaching out to professionals for help,” she stated.
The RVC advises those that are battling behaviour issues of their canine ought to take their pet to the vet, as difficulties may cause well being issues, whereas those that missed out on puppy lessons can nonetheless get assist with behaviour from experts registered with the Animal Behaviour Training Council.
Wright added that regardless of the challenges, he wouldn’t be with out his dogs.
“They are great, beautiful, friendly, but just a nightmare when they are out on a lead,” he stated.
