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My dog's become dominant aggressive with me.
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Any ideas on how i can stop Mr. Puff's Jack russell from growling and snapping at me?
I'm scared to be in the house with her now. We've had her a week and I didn't realise she was taking advantage. I let rip last night with techniques to make her feel inferior again, which kind of worked, but this morning she was having a right old go at me because I was going to work and she wasn't going to go out of the front door with me. when I go home I know she will go schizo if I try and put her lead on her and I am scared of being bitten. I have no confidence round dogs anyway, so it's doubly scarey when it's your own dog that's behaving like this.
help!
I'm scared to be in the house with her now. We've had her a week and I didn't realise she was taking advantage. I let rip last night with techniques to make her feel inferior again, which kind of worked, but this morning she was having a right old go at me because I was going to work and she wasn't going to go out of the front door with me. when I go home I know she will go schizo if I try and put her lead on her and I am scared of being bitten. I have no confidence round dogs anyway, so it's doubly scarey when it's your own dog that's behaving like this.
help!
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Comments
don't resort to violence
ignore her completely when you get home for a start..talk to her when you want to (i.e. call her to you when you're settled down and ready)
go through doorways before her
when you're getting ready to feed her, put her bowl on the table where she can see you putting food into it, but have a biscuit (human one!) or something like that behind it. put the food in her bowl, then pick up the biscuit from behind it and eat it, slowly and deliberatley. Let her see you eating it, but don't look at her.
Dog listener - will do
Would never resort to violence as
a) i think that's how you get a naughty dog
b) I'm too scared of her.
thanks for the advice. I'm hoping things will get better when we start training classes, but I'd rather try and nip this all in the bud before we get to the point where I'm a gibbering wreck
Stu
Didn't play with her at all yesterday until late evening, to try and get the message across, but the first thing she did was start snapping and growling again so i stopped the game.
feel like I'm being very hard on her and using bullying tactics (not violent though). but if it works, then i will do everything you and twodogs have suggested. Thank you
Standard technique used by Husky team drivers to maintain dominance over the lead dog.
(Its probably best to get Mr Puff to help you to do this - always assuming that you want to)
Take the little devil out in the garden and wee on him....
(Probably also best done under cover of darkness)
And if that doesn't get this thread cazzed -nothing will
However, I think she has already been introduced to sausages from the fridge and may get a little confused by what Mr. Puff has in his hand...
be an interesting interview with the triage nurse at A&E for him though......
A sheep.
Don't ask - just dont
It got to the pont that if you so much as looked at him he would fly accross the roam at you in a complete rage.
Took him to the vet and he consulted with his partners with no real answer, they thought that he had a top dog mentality and was unlikely to be broken.
By then he was 18 months old and we had a young baby and one day he pulled her nappy off her and wouldn't let her mother near her.
That was it I'm afraid, daughter or dog?
Very sad day when I tokk a perfectly behaved(for once) dog to the vets and had him put down. I know it was the right decission but still sobbed my heart out.
everal months later I was listening to the radio and a vet was talking about 'Rage Syndrome' which he said affected pedigree breeds, Cockers and retrievers in particular and is caused by too much in breading. Symtoms exactly described my dogs.
I wish I had known about these dog psycholgy books then, I would have tried anything.
Good Luck
Jan Fennel's book 'the dog listener' has its critics, but I advise it as it helps to understand why dogs do what they do.
The key to all dog training is training yourself to be consistant and fair (easier said than done!)
Your dog will pick up on your insecurities and think "jeez, nobody here know's what they are doing - i'd better take control!"
You say you've only had her a week? Not excusing her from her behaviour but she is doing what she is doing partly due to 250 years of breeding to be a little fighter and partly because of her past experiences.
A week is not long for a dog to settle, and I agree this issue shouldn't be left to fester, it would be worth remembering that the dog is probably just as bewildered and shocked at the situation as you are.
If you'd like to email me your address I will post you some useful booklets from Dogs Trust, which along with 'the dog listener' book should help you understand her behaviour and how your behaviour can help to resolve the issue.
Another excellent book is called 'Don't shoot the dog'. It's a brilliant read even if you don't have dog, but will also help your understanding of the situation.
sianedwards@dogstrust45.freeserve.co.uk
Must admit we had a dog like that once & i event. lost my temper & balled the dog out in such terms that shocked him(or deafened him) into realising that i was top dog not him.
OK just a thought
Nelle - i think she tries it on with both of us, but becasue Mr. Puff doesn't have my fear of dogs he is more inclined to push her away when she plays up, where as i tend to adopt a more "look i'm unarmed and i am not a threat to you" stance.
She plays up with him and the lead - by the sounds of it this morning he was having a right old game of it. also, this morning he went round the back way when she refused to move into the lounge to let him through the front door (we shut the hall/lounge connecting door before opening the front door to prevent her legging it.
so, not quite so aggressive but still quite bolshy.
He also encouraged her to play tuggie till she growled saying it was normal behaviour as was the teeth round the fingers routine, even though I asked him not to encourage that kind of thing right from the start.
i am thinking that next time she tries growling and teeth bearing, it may be worth a very loud "Stop" or "enough", although I am afraid that raising my voice may provoke her more. Or is it a case of the louder the voice the more dominant you are?
Just a point though Steveo - if you do this when you dog does come out of the sea (eventually!), aren't you actually telling him off for doing so?
Dogs don't understand the 'delay'. If you do the 'shake and no' after he has finally come back to you then you are punishing him for actually coming back (however slow).
Puff - I've replied to your mail also. Info in the post.
Just in reply to you question the 'loudness' of your voice has little to do with it. You can sound assertive without shouting. Also bear in mind that sometimes dogs behave in a certain way to get attention and us responding by shouting/pushing away etc, although it seems negative to us, it actually a 'reward' for the dog. I guess it's a bit like a kid playing up just to get attention even if that attention is punishment. Sometimes ignoring the behaviour (no eye contact, nothing) gets the dog to try something else, the minute then the behaviour changes to something you like, you can reward.
Also you mention the 'tug of war game'. These games are fine and are often used by puppy in their packs to help them sort out who is top dog for the future. In this case however I would suggest that if the game is being played, the human always 'wins' the tug and the game ends with the toy being totally taken away by the human. This can help establish the human as 'top dog' when used consistantly with other training techniques.
If your little dog really enjoys toys that's a great bonus for you as a game of fetch/tug whatever can be used as a reward in training. This is espcially usefull if your dog isn't very food motivated.
Agree with you . He seems to be having his idea of Fun . Its when I stand at the sea edge and tell him to get out and he refuses to come out ie he knows the consequencies so my theory is the consequecies have to be enforced . This is normally only once in a Blue moon and normally when I am at the sea edge and tell him to get he does .
Training dogs by punishing is very very difficult...timing is everything. Much better to train by reward. Also, if you're playing with the dog and it gets overexcited and starts trying to overstep its position, stop playing and either walk away, or put it in a "time out" place for a few minutes...you'll be amazed at the difference.
My only suggestion is if your dogs behaviour does not improve I would suggest you get a referral from your vet to go see an animal behaviourist so someone completely independent can observe your dogs behaviour and give advise and more importantly give you more confidence in dealing with him. Often these behaviourist are attached to the vet and won't cost any more than the cost of a visit to the vet.
Sorry if you have mentioned this already but how old is the dog? and has it been neutered?
Good luck Puff. The dog will soon learn if you assert yourself.