I wonder how many dogs have lost their lives due to monkeys.  I’m referring to dogs disposed of by their owners who don’t know how to stop the canine hysteria triggered by our hapless tree-waifs. Not forgetting the many pooches who have been beaten up or have lost their lives while selflessly protecting their master’s fruit bowl from these marauding thugs.

And when it’s monkey visiting day, not only do our dogs behave like lunatics, but they also seem to lose their heads and turn on each other. In the heat of the moment, dog turns on dog and serious fights break out. Sadly, many a dog owner has arrived home to see dear old Yella lying in a pool of blood, breathing his last … and yes, the monkeys were the catalyst.

Yeh, yeh, yeh, we know all about these poor maligned creatures who have been displaced by wicked humans needing somewhere safe to live and raise their own families. On the other hand, it’s these same blue-butted, innocents who torment our dogs … plunder our orchards, ransack our bird feeders, break into our houses, multiply like flies and wouldn’t dream of eating indigenous berries or roots in their own reserves  … ag shame, too much like hard work for the little darlings! Oh …endangered species? I think not, life is too good in suburbia.   Don’t get me wrong, I love monkeys, I just wish they’d stay in my neighbours garden or at least help pay my rent.

Now here’s the thing … ask yourself why your dogs react so hysterically to these little trespassers, and if you are honest, you will recall you set them off in the first place!
Remember stirring up them up with, “Where’s the monkeys?!!! “See the monkeys off ….”  or whatever you said to incite a reaction, because it was probably quite funny in the beginning.  But then it got out of hand and became a serious problem, especially with your neighbours complaining about the barking. Well, guess what? You classically conditioned your dogs to perform the behaviour! Monkeys = Hysteria, just like good old Pavlov and his salivating dogs when they heard the dinner bell.

Stop the hysteria

But all is not lost.  This crazy, out of control behaviour can be stopped permanently. And the trick is association of ideas. In other words, you can desensitize your dogs to monkeys by replacing the stimulus. For example, Monkeys = Loud Clanging Noise = Subdued Dogs.  You may ask, how many ways are there to make a loud, ugly noise? Well, be creative -. my favourite  is the kitchen symbol recipe - take  two saucepan lids and wham  them together like all hell broke loose, next time the monkeys come to call and the hysteria begins. If you get it right, you will be amazed how quickly your dogs lose interest in our furry branch managers.