WITH MAGDOLINE AWAD

Weekly vet columnist, Dr Magdoline Awad, chief veterinarian officer at Greencross The Pet Company, explores the tricky issue of tethering.

AGGRESSIVE TIED UP

We take our otherwise friendly four-year-old female desexed boxer camping every year. Normally she is a house dog with total freedom in the house and yard. She is used to being on the lead. But when camping she has to be tethered on a long lead as dogs aren’t allowed off leash and she becomes extremely territorial, aggressively jumping up to anyone who comes to our campsite or walks by – even people she knows and is normally friendly to. Why does she behave like this when tethered? – Paul C.

What you are describing is the behaviour of a distressed or frustrated dog that has been confined by tethering away from their home environment. When confronted with a threat, dogs normally respond with fight or flight instinct. When tethered your dog can’t flee from any perceived or potential threats so they may attack when acting out of fear or frustration.

While being tethered is not ideal there are ways to minimise risk and distress. Make sure there is plenty of water and shelter. She should always be supervised as there is a risk dogs can become entangled on the tether and therefore injured. Ensure she gets plenty of exercise off the tether during the day. If you can have the tethering site away from walkways and high traffic areas to reduce interaction with people passing by and closer to the tent, that may help.

Have her kennel accessible for her to sleep and retreat. Ideally, tethering should only be used for short periods of time with breaks off-tether in between.

In your case, your dog should be trained to be left on a tether prior to your trip. This should be done in a gradual way to get her used to it. Try to build the association that being tethered is a good thing, by putting the dog on the tether for short periods at home. It’s important to begin by taking her off tether before she shows any sign of restlessness.

Despite this practice, she may still be distressed while tethered when camping as she cannot greet passers-by or move freely in the new environment. The more she rehearses the unsettled behaviour while camping, the worse it might get, so try to keep her tether sessions short and sweet while you are camping.

The question I would ask you is whether you need to take her camping given the restrictions placed on her? Are you able to get a house sitter or arrange for her to go into pet boarding to prevent her having to be tethered?