Lockdown Dog Generation – how big is the Problem?
Puppies adopted during the lockdowns are now fully grown 2-4 year dogs: are we now seeing an epidemic of problem behaviours?
What the studies are telling us
A recent study by the Royal College of Veterinarians* (RCV) has received a lot of media attention (*links at the foot of this post). Its findings and conclusions will no doubt be familiar to many dog owners, namely that a lot of dog owners are struggling to cope with their pet’s behaviour, to put it mildly. And for those of you who have come across the excellent annual PDSA* PAW report, it’s old news: their comprehensive survey has revealed the extent of the issue for the past three years. (The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals is a wonderful charity, by the way. And their enlightening annual PAW report is published every spring).
In a nutshell, the RCV surveyed over 1,000 dog owners who adopted puppies in 2020-2022 and found that almost all owners had at least one issue, and for the majority of them, their dogs had up to five “problem” behaviours. One in five had eight or more, and nearly one in three listed separation anxiety as a significant issue. Quite staggering numbers when you think about it. The most common problem behaviours were pulling on the lead, jumping up at strangers, and lack of recall. From my experience I can also anecdotally add accepting visitors into the home as a common problem. Hardly surprising when you think a puppy’s formative months were likely spent with no visitors being allowed in their home during a lockdown.
Aversive “training” is still more common than you think
As a trainer, the most worrying aspect for me was that although most owners reported using at least one form of positive reinforcement such a praise, four in five reported using what would be called aversive or punishment techniques or equipment. This includes everything from choke chains and e-collars to pushing, shouting at, or domineering behaviours. And it seems the majority of those people are suffering in silence. Either simply giving up and rehoming the dog. Or living with these problems, settling for a pretty awful life for both dog and owner.
Is this all because of the lockdowns? Or is it a wider societal problem – a direction we are heading with fills me with foreboding? Is it all bad news, and what can we do?
A perfect storm
Many things have been said about the effect of a generation of lockdown dogs, and I won’t rehash the detail here. But we had a perfect storm of a lack of socialisation opportunities, restricted access to professional training help, illegal or grey market puppy supply that flourished under these conditions, and stay-at-home newbie pet parents who would one day be going back out to work after all. Add onto that a post-pandemic economic climate that was and remains very challenging for many people. Stress all around.
Puppies and dogs need to be socialised into routines and if those routines have to change (daddy gotta go to work!) then they need help to train them into the new routines so they are not so scary. And there is a lot of fear out there: dogs scared of their owners leaving, visitors entering their house, strangers walking outside…
If these dogs are being punished for their fear by being shouted at (or worse), then it is no wonder that we are making the problem worse.
The Rescue carousel
And consider the fact we added 2.5 million dogs into our households between the springs of 2020 and 2022. The total in 2024 now stands at around 11 million households who own at least one dog (officially). So for any given ratio of “problem” behaviours, it is now being magnified just by the significant increase alone in dogs.
It doesn’t take a huge leap of faith to see that with more dogs in circulation, and more of those having behaviour problems, then more are going to be rehomed (or worse). Well-meaning rescuers are taking on dogs with behaviour “problems” that have never been trained, and are often unable to cope. Sometimes, it just doesn’t work out. This, despite the best and kindest of intentions.
Pandemic, or just modern life?
A key question is did the pandemic really cause this, or simply magnify societal changes anyway? I think it’s both. Modern life is continually re-inventing itself in faster and faster ways. There seems to be little patience for anything. Screen-scrolling, next day deliveries, no tolerance for alternative views, the “insta” effect of appearance over substance…. How does dog ownership really fit into this? Dog training comes with the internet, YouTube and Channel 5? The survey highlighted a really interesting point: so many people “fell” into dog ownership for the first time, with unreasonable expectations of how easy it is for a puppy to be “compliant”.
Someone said to me about their puppy, “He didn’t come with Recall”, only half-jokingly.
We buy flat-pack furniture and pay for someone else to assemble them. We buy cars on the internet without physically seeing them first. And it seems a lot of us buy puppies “off the shelf” too.
Here’s where Force-Free training comes in
A foundation for my work is helping owners understand that their dog is not “bad” or “naughty” (Channel 5 take note). I dislike these adjectives because it both reflects and reinforces a certain mindset. Once we grasp the idea that our dogs either have never even been taught – properly – to know any better, or are trying to communicate with us that they are stressed out, I see a light come on in an owner’s eyes. And it’s a wonderful thing to behold. A huge cloud lifting.
We can approach everything with sympathy and love, not punishment or dominance, which is so, so tiring.
I am not talking about embracing your inner hippie. I am talking about modern, proven training techniques that help you truly understand and bond with your dog. Enriching your life.
Some people do take their dogs to training, and should be applauded for this, but perhaps have unrealistic expectations. So many other things in life are box-ticking, and dog training is not one of them. Raising a child takes love, dedication and hard work. So does raising a puppy or helping an older dog. The good news is, not nearly so much!
A New Hope?
And I also see hope. First of all, we are admitting we have a problem. It’s now mainstream news. And with public awareness, it becomes easier to become enlightened or to know where to go to educate ourselves. But let’s not rest on our laurels and think, well, it’s on the BBC now, so it’ll be sorted. Re-share the links on social media, told you so, job done.
No, this should come from the ground-up, because the mainstream news is removing shame for anyone struggling. If you are struggling, you will suffer in silence if you think it’s only you. But it isn’t! As dog owners we should talk to each other. One of the dog community’s greatest strengths is it transcends other boundaries.
At least for the majority of us, we have dogs because we enjoy their company and respect them, and this common bond should bring us closer together.
Chatting in the park is commonplace. Obviously, some situations can become confrontational because of a dog’s behaviour. But where appropriate we need to communicate with each other that there is help out there.
Secondly, I think there is longer-term hope because of evidence of a shift in attitudes with the newer generations. The data is showing just this. Amongst Gen Z and Millennials, for example, there is a greater tendency to regard their dog as an equal and companion, rather than as a robot or an inferior that should be “compliant”. There is much more interest in the detail of canine psychology, training, welfare, “happiness” and attention to diet. This is the new, younger generation of dog owners.
In the meantime, we need to get on top of the problem, because it affects us all. If you struggling, however old you are, or your dog is, please ask for professional help. Imperatively from a Force-Free trainer. We are here for you!
Pandemic puppy owners struggle with bad behaviour say vets – BBC News
