Beyond the Control Order: Understanding the Dog Behind the Incident

If your dog has been placed on a council control order, you will have been given a number of requirements that you are legally required to follow. What the order doesn't provide is an individualised plan for your dog.

Every dog, and every incident, is different. Understanding what contributed to your dog's behaviour, identifying their individual risk factors, and putting appropriate management and behaviour support in place are important steps in moving forward.

So, beyond complying with the order, where do you start?

Understand what happened

An incident tells us that something went wrong, but it doesn't necessarily tell us why.

Dogs can display aggressive behaviour for many different reasons. Fear, anxiety, frustration, high arousal, pain and predatory behaviour can all play a role. Previous learning and the dog's past experiences can also influence how they respond in a particular situation.

Two dogs may therefore have been involved in very similar incidents but need very different support afterwards.

This is why behaviour support should start with the individual dog. We want to understand not only what happened during the incident, but what was happening beforehand, what the dog's behaviour looked like, what factors may have contributed and whether there are patterns in other areas of their life.

From there, we can start to build a management and training plan around the dog in front of us.

Management comes first

When owners seek help after an incident, they are often understandably focused on changing their dog's behaviour. But before we can work on behaviour change, we need to reduce the risk of another incident occurring.

What this looks like will be different for every dog.

It might mean changing where or when the dog is walked, creating more distance from particular triggers, improving barriers around the home, changing how visitors are managed, avoiding particular situations altogether or introducing additional safety equipment. For some dogs, positive muzzle training will also be an important part of their ongoing management.

Management isn't about giving up on training. It gives us the opportunity to work on behaviour without repeatedly putting the dog — or the people and animals around them — into situations they aren't yet equipped to manage.

Training needs to go beyond obedience

After an incident, it can be tempting to focus heavily on obedience. Recall, loose-lead walking and responding reliably to their owner are important skills, but they are only part of the picture.

A dog can know how to sit, stay and come when called and still struggle when they become frightened, frustrated or highly aroused.

For many of the dogs we work with, training therefore focuses on building the skills that help them cope more successfully in challenging situations. We work on developing optimism, so the dog is less likely to approach the world expecting something to go wrong; engagement with their owner, so checking in becomes a familiar and rewarding choice; and disengagement, so noticing a trigger doesn't have to mean becoming fixated on it.

Alongside these skills, we work on helping the dog develop better regulation of their arousal — something we often describe as building a better dimmer switch. Some dogs seem to have more of an on/off switch. They can appear relatively calm and then escalate very quickly from 0 to 100. We want to help them develop more steps in between, so they can experience increasing levels of excitement, frustration or concern without immediately becoming overwhelmed.

This also means teaching owners to recognise what those different levels look like in their own dog. Rather than only noticing when their dog has reached 100, we want them to recognise what 20, 40 or 60 looks like. At those earlier stages, the dog is much more likely to still be able to check in, disengage from a trigger and respond to their owner.

The goal isn't simply a dog who follows cues. It's a dog with a broader set of skills for navigating difficult situations, alongside an owner who can recognise when their dog is starting to struggle and respond before things escalate.

Sometimes we need to look beyond training

Behaviour doesn't exist separately from physical health. Pain, illness and other medical conditions can have a significant impact on how a dog feels, copes and responds to the world around them. A dog who is uncomfortable may have a lower tolerance for situations they previously managed well, become more irritable or reactive, or find it harder to regulate their responses.

For this reason, behavioural challenges shouldn't always be approached as a training issue alone. When significant fear, anxiety, impulsivity or aggression is present, we may recommend involving a Behaviour Vet, who can consider the dog's mental and physical health together as part of their assessment.

For some dogs, treatment may include medication alongside management and behaviour modification. Medication isn't about sedating the dog or replacing training. When appropriately prescribed, it can help address underlying factors that may be affecting the dog's ability to cope, regulate their responses and learn.

Complex cases often benefit from a collaborative approach, with the owner, qualified trainer and Behaviour Vet each contributing their expertise. Rather than looking at the behaviour in isolation, this allows us to consider the whole dog — their physical health, emotional wellbeing, environment, behaviour and learning history.

Moving forward

There is rarely a quick fix following a serious behavioural incident, and no behaviour professional can guarantee that a dog will never display aggressive behaviour again.

What we can do is understand the dog better.

We can identify the situations that present the greatest risk. We can put management in place to reduce those risks. We can teach the dog skills that help them cope with perceived challenges, and teach their owner to recognise and respond to changes in their behaviour much earlier.

A council control order tells you what you are legally required to do.

Behaviour support is about working out what your individual dog needs in addition to those requirements — and putting a realistic plan in place to help everyone move forward as safely as possible.

Lena Logan is the owner and trainer at Paws & Reward and holds a First-Class BSc (Hons) in Animal Behaviour and Welfare. Paws & Reward works with dog owners across Adelaide, including owners of dogs subject to council control orders, using reward-based training and behaviour modification.

Further support

If your dog has been placed on a Barking, Nuisance, Menacing, or Dangerous Dog Order and you would like professional support, you can learn more about the Paws & Reward Council Order Program here: https://pawsandreward.com.au/council-orders