Prevention is the best medicine: the hierarchy of dog needs.
‘Prevention is the best medicine’ is a fundamental principle of modern human health care. We all know that by eating well, exercising regularly, having a regular sleep pattern and ensuring our emotional wellbeing is met, we stand the best chance of living full and happy lives. Our basic needs must be met.
So it should come as no surprise that the exact same principles can be applied to our furry companions, not just to help with physical wellbeing, but also to help with behaviour.
Avoidance and prevention are certainly the best ‘medicine’ for behaviour problems in dogs. Many common behaviour issues, such as separation anxiety and resource guarding, can be prevented in the first instance by ensuring that the dog’s basic needs are met.
But what does a dog need?
Every dog is different and needs vary according to breed, sex, age and individual preferences. However, there are fundamental needs that every dog requires to some degree.
Eminent psychologist and dog trainer Linda Michaels has developed a pyramid that illustrates everything that a dog needs to thrive, called ‘the hierarchy of dog needs’. The pyramid is divided into five layers, with biological, emotional and social needs forming the foundation layers, and force-free training and cognitive needs at the pyramid’s peak. Linda stresses that the layers are in fact fluid, and should be viewed more as overlapping currents rather than static boundaries.
The Hierarchy of Dog Needs by Linda Michaels, including the ‘do no harm’ best practice dog training techniques.
Biological Needs
Forming the foundation of the pyramid lies a dog’s biological needs. Just like humans, domestic dogs have basic requirements for safety, shelter, proper nutrition, fresh water, exercise and the ability to control their own temperature. And, just like humans, every domestic dog should have access to medical care. Without these biological needs being met, their health and behaviour may be compromised.
Emotional Needs
As pet parents it is our responsibility to provide our dog with emotional safety within a consistent and enriched environment to enable a dog-owner attachment bond to develop. In simple terms, this boils down to kindness, trust and love, as described by animal behaviourist Marc Bekoff:
“Dogs, like us, need to feel safe, at peace and loved. They depend on us to full these needs and we are obliged to do so”
Social Needs
Dogs are highly social animals and require a degree of social interaction with other dogs and people. Just like humans, not all dogs are extroverts and they don’t need lots of doggy pals. Some dogs prefer the company of humans. Understanding the social requirements of your own dog and providing opportunities for a variety of social interactions should they so wish, will ensure that their social needs are being met.
Training Needs
Crucially, a dog’s training needs should always be met by force-free and rewarding techniques, based on the ethics of ‘do no harm’. Aversive techniques, such as prong and shock collars, physical manipulation and shouting do not satisfy a dog’s welfare and threaten to undermine the emotional bond between a dog and their owner.
Cognitive Needs
Dogs sense the human world around them in a very different way to us. The power of their sense of smell is beyond our comprehension and dogs need to be provided with opportunities to explore through sniffing. Linda also advocates the need for a dog to give consent and the importance of providing a dog with choices, such as where they want to sleep and where they want to go for a walk. Enrichment can be provided by ditching a bowl and scatter feeding food around the garden, giving dogs the chance to practice their natural scavenger feeding traits.
Behaviour problems can stem from unfulfilled needs
As a behaviourist, the first thing I do when meeting a client and their dog for the first time is to gain a clear understanding of how the dog’s needs are being met. By taking a detailed history at the start of a consultation and by seeing the dog in their home environment, I am able to determine if the behaviour problem that I have been called in to help with could be caused by an unfulfilled need.
Take for example, Fred. Fred is a young cockerpoo that had a tendency to destroy anything he could get his paws and jaws on while his owner was at work. His owner said Fred was getting lots of exercise and couldn’t understand why he was so ‘naughty’.
By taking a closer look at Fred’s home life and daily routine, it became apparent that although Fred was getting lots of physical exercise with his daily walks, his emotional and social needs were unfulfilled.
I encouraged Fred’s owner to spend dedicated play and training time with him each morning before work. Although it meant getting up 20 minutes earlier in the morning, the owner began to enjoy the quality time he was spending with Fred and could see how their attachment bond was strengthened. The owner excelled himself by taking Fred to agility classes - an activity they enjoyed together, satisfying both of their social needs and further cementing the bond of love and trust between them.
With the support of a local dog walker to walk and engage with Fred at lunchtime, and by enriching his environment with puzzle and snuffle toys while he was left alone, Fred’s behaviour greatly improved.
I’m not here to judge!
It can be intimidating for an owner to have a behaviourist come into their own home. Owners can feel that their ability to be a good pet parent is being judged and they will be deemed unfit. However, this is simply not the case.
Every owner that calls in the help of a behaviourist is 100% a caring pet parent and always wants the best for their dog. Often by making small adjustments here and a tweak there, coupled with reward based training and lots of patience, the dog’s unfulfilled needs can be met and the behaviour will be resolved.
Help is at hand
If you would like help understanding your dog’s problematic behaviour, or want to set off on the right foot with a new puppy, please drop me a message.
If you would like to find out more about Linda Michaels’ Hierarchy of Dog Needs and her Do No Harm training ethics, please take a look at this link.