So Frustrating!

A frustrated spaniel in the middle of zoomies

Dogs are not great at dealing with frustration and often the fallout of being frustrated shows up as behaviour that is labelled as 'naughty' or 'aggressive' or 'bad' when in fact we just have a dog that is struggling with a tricky emotion that most humans also struggle with.

 What causes frustration in dogs?

The specifics depend on the dog, but in general frustration is caused by wanting access to something that they can't get to. Common situations for dogs are seeing prey animals such as cats, squirrels and birds and wanting to chase them; wanting to greet other dogs constantly; dogs that are scared of other dogs feeling trapped and scent-driven dogs wanting to go hunt.

 What does it look like?

Again, this is dog dependent but can often look like:

- pulling on lead

- barking and lunging

- lead biting

- grabbing clothing/arms/legs

- redirected biting/nipping

- vocalisations like barking or whining

- spinning

-humping

 Why is this a problem?

The high levels of arousal caused by frustration can be very difficult for a dog to come down from. This process can take up to 72hrs, meaning that if you take your dog out every single day and they are experiencing high levels of frustration, your dog is in a constant state of high arousal. Dogs in this state don't make decisions well, are more reactive, don't rest/sleep well and are more likely to react based on instinct than use what they have learned.

We, and dogs, tend to fall into a few common patterns of how we handle frustration. We might keep attempting an action over and over if it doesn't work the first time, we might get angry and respond accordingly, we might try something else or we might feel down and give up, or we might go back to something that worked previously.

Chances are you've seen one of these more often than the others when your dog is frustrated by something. Knowing your dog's triggers and how they deal with frustration makes it so much easier to deal with. If you're struggling with your dog's behaviour, particularly on walks and for puppies, try observing your dog for a few days and making a few notes of what you see.

If your dog's frustration related behaviours are a problem, we can offer some dog training solutions so don't suffer alone!