Dog psychologist says 'only stressed out animals' would maul to death

Only stressed out animals would attack in such a way, says dog psychologist – after a woman was mauled to death in Surrey by ‘multiple dogs’

• Dog psychologist Bruce Clanford says its ‘shocking’ for 7 dogs to turn on walker
• He believes the attack in Surrey on Thursday was ‘entirely preventable’
• He blamed attack on breakdown in communication between dogs and humans 
• Mr Clanford says dogs act that way if they are all feeling very stressed 

For seven dogs to turn on one woman is shocking and, in my experience, almost unprecedented. We can’t feel anything but enormous sympathy for her family. 

While none of us can know exactly what took place on Thursday, there is no doubt in my mind that it was entirely preventable – and was allowed to happen because of a fundamental breakdown in communication between dogs and humans. 

I know this because I’ve been an animal behavioural specialist for 22 years. And in all my time working with dogs, some with a range of problem behaviours, I’ve never known them to turn on someone en masse like this. 

Dogs act that way if they are all feeling very stressed. If only one or two of them had been troubled, the whole pack would not have behaved as they appear to have done. 

For seven dogs to turn on one woman is shocking and, in my experience, almost unprecedented. We can’t feel anything but enormous sympathy for her family. Pictured: File photo of a dachshund which was a breed of dog walked by the victim

While none of us can know exactly what took place on Thursday, there is no doubt in my mind that it was entirely preventable – and was allowed to happen because of a fundamental breakdown in communication between dogs and humans. Pictured: Police at the remote spot Gravelly Hill in Surrey, where a woman was mauled to death by the dogs she was walking

When you take dogs out as a group, you need to know how they behave individually, how they respond to each other, and what their triggers are. Put together a load of dogs, which may not have met each other before, and they become anxious. 

Even the process of getting them there, perhaps bundled together in a van, is a stressful experience for them.

If the dog walker was also a stranger to them – and we don’t know if this was the case – it would only have exacerbated their nervousness. 

The fact they were on leads, as reported, would have compounded that further. 

Their ‘fight or flight’ response would have been activated, putting them naturally on edge and alert to danger. 

Dogs act that way if they are all feeling very stressed. If only one or two of them had been troubled, the whole pack would not have behaved as they appear to have done. Pictured: A police officer at the scene of the tragedy, where a forensics tent had been erected

Pictured: The 11st Leonburger at the centre of horror that saw a dog walker, 28, ‘mauled to death’: Click here to read more

EXCLUSIVE FIRST PICTURE: Shiva, an 11st Leonburger, was among eight hounds with the victim. Shiva’s owner says her dog is now ‘missing’

 

What happens next is an automatic response which sees the dogs looking for a way to lash out. This isn’t because they want to harm someone or something; it’s a way of communicating that they want the situation they are in to stop. 

One of the dogs found a target: a second woman, walking with her own dog. It’s possible the dog tried to attack her animal and, when she intervened, snapped at her instead. 

We don’t know how the first dog walker responded. But by then it was too late for her to regain control. 

The over-stressed dog, as she tried to control it, would have wanted to lash out further. This is it saying: ‘Get off me, I’m really stressed, get away.’ 

That reaction, to attack her, would have been instantaneous. But it’s the fact that all of the dogs joined in which is most telling. 

This wasn’t one dog going rogue and being copied by the pack. Dogs don’t do that. 

They only act together – with pack mentality – if they’re all feeling the same way. I suspect they were all stressed and anxious. And that must have started well before the first dog lashed out. 

It’s sad that the dogs will get the blame for something that was a failure of human responsibility. 

And it’s why we need all dog walkers to undertake basic qualifications, and why we must have a national register of professionals, as a matter of urgency. 

Bruce Clanford is The UK Dog Whisperer, an animal behaviour specialist.

Source: Read Full Article