Bad behaviour blamed as 18,000 dogs put up for rehoming
Dogs Trust says one in three cases is because of 'unwanted behaviours'
Dogs Trust says it has received more than 18,000 requests to take in unwanted family pets since the start of 2023.
The animal charity, which has a centre at Newton Tony, says a third of owners reasoning for giving up a dog was for 'unwanted behaviours'.
Dan Molland from Salisbury Dog Trainers says people's expectations of dogs are too high:
"I think the average person's expectations of their dogs is much higher than what it what it perhaps should be."
Dan says it is crucial to get things right at home, with communication being the key:
"They're dogs, they don't understand what we want them to do or how we want them to behave. They need us to guide them, and that's done through our tone of voice, our commands and our body language."
Data from the National Dog Survey – which harnessed the views of nearly 350,000 respondents in 2021 – shows a quarter of respondents were worried they didn’t have the patience to deal with their dog’s behaviour and almost a fifth (18%) admit they didn’t have time to train their new pup.
Pandemic not to blame for lack of socialisation
The COVID-19 pandemic saw a huge rise in the number of people buying and selling dogs, with training and socialized opportunities lower than usual.
Dan says there is a misconception about socialisation for dogs, with many owners thinking its about letting your dog interact with other dogs.
According to Dan, it is about making you the most important thing in their life and exposing them to things like the noise of traffic going by.
"For a dog behaviourist really is about just exposing your dog to the human world," he said,
And while the pandemic has had an impact, it's not as a large as people may think:
Dan said: "We were dealing with those problems before the pandemic and we're still dealing with those kind of problems after the pandemic with dogs that didn't live through it.
"The pandemic did impact some of the behaviours, but not not to the scale that that people think," he concluded.
Cost of living also a factor in dog's behaviour
The ongoing cost-of-living crisis is also impacting the welfare of our beloved four-legged friends as more than 1 in 10 (12%) owners said they hadn’t invested in training with experts because they couldn’t afford it.
Sadly, as dogs acquired during the on-again off-again lockdowns of 2020-2022 adjust to their once ever-present owners returning to office work – either full or part-time - the impact is now being felt at the charity’s helpline and website.
A new, free, Behavioural Support Line has been set up to help owners who are struggling, as well as services to support dogs through the cost of living crisis.
Staffed by specialist Behaviour Support Line Officers equipped with a range of behaviour qualifications and expertise – including animal behaviour degrees, dog behaviour accreditations, and hands-on experience – the support line has already helped thousands of owners and their previously problematic pups.
Owen Sharp, Chief Executive of Dogs Trust, says: “Too often we hear from families who feel they have no other option but to give up their dogs due to problems that could have been prevented early on with the right interventions.
“Last year, over 350,000 people responded to our first National Dog Survey, giving us a real insight into how people care for their dogs here in the UK.
“We’ve since used all that we learnt to launch new services providing tangible support to dogs and their owners, including our Behaviour Support Line, helping them to tackle behaviour-related issues before they turn into real problems.
“What owners tell us through the National Dog Survey this year will again shape the future services provided by Dogs Trust so we can continue to support the nation’s dogs and their owners.”
The second National Dog Survey is open now until 7th June, to help Dogs Trust continue to better understand the UK’s 12.5 million-strong pooch population and develop more of these much-needed tailored support programmes.