dee lee

Good question Ruthless, I was actually wondering the same thing about Evie. :wink: Tonymc, assuming a dog has had unknown bad experiences, is mature, and there is existing good leadership (as acknowledged by a professional), then what would be your opinion as to whether it can be fixed? Owning an older rescue dog means that the developmental stages are a mystery and so where do you go then when you have problems? Is the problem too entrenched to ever go away without medication? *oops so slow!! Ok so then would medication help? doggie prozac?

Good on you Emmabelle!! You wont regret it. I have money problems too and put off getting a trainer for months and months until I just bit the bullet, closed my eyes and signed that cheque. Financially it hurt, but it gave me back control over my dog and life. Before that I wasnt sleeping worrying about her and having her around was becoming torturous. She is a constant work in progress but now I understand much more about her behaviour- AND I have support and help just a phonecall away. It also was a relief to have my difficulties validated by my trainer- lets face it all dogs are not the same, and we have tricky ones. Good luck with Steve. Dee

Emmabelle, I can totally relate to this, my rescue dog Ive had since she was 6 months. You never can know what kind of experiences they had during important developmental times. Mine obviously had limited socialisation and yes, I wonder about the bonding too. But hey, what can you do? Umm, having read about your difficulty in getting your dog to the offlead park and back again I just want to suggest that maybe you change your approach on exercising him. Until you can get his recall under control you should walk him on lead. I know GSPs are a high energy breed but my dog is crossed with something that can run like the wind for hours (kelpie or whippet- or who knows maybe a GSP? ) and due to her problems I only walk her on lead. It takes an hour but it does the trick and when you consider that the alternative could be that your dog gets hit by a car or whatever... Until you can afford a trainer do some research on pack structure and how you can apply it in your home- it does sound like your dog has little respect for you and you my be missing some key areas that really could put you back on top. Walking on lead and not letting him run away from you will help too. At times when I have felt that my dog deserved better I have just thought about the alternatives for her- PTS or pound (then most likely pts). It puts things in perspective- my dog is treated very well, as I am sure yours is. We just have to learn to deal with them.

I would like to suggest that not all owners are good at training their dog not to pull. Such as me . I spent a year attempting to train my dog to loose lead walk. Unsuccessfully. I was even unsuccessful with a check chain initially. My dog for whatever reason is HIGHLY distracted and is not much interested in pleasing me outside my house. With consultation with a trainer I have accepted my/her limitations, work with them and am happy with the use of tools if it gets me the results I NEED, that is, a dog who will loose lead walk. She is never allowed offleash ("issues" with other dogs) so this is immensely important to us. Even now she is not perfect but we hopefully will get there and using a tool such as a check chain was invaluable in the process.

If he is walking nicely on a flat collar, I dont see why you would need one. My dog was a habitual puller (for whatever reason) and I have had to use a trainer and many tools to get on top of it. Like Huski, I now use a martingale but previously have used a prong, check chain and a harness and of the latter I actually feel most comfortable with a check chain. It is simple and effective when used properly. IF you need it- hopefully you will train your little fellow well and you wont!

awesome boarding AND training ... I'll make a fortune :rolleyes: if you ever take a holiday to Vic give me a bell and I'll teach you a few secrets of the trade I'll save my pennies!!

I know, how about I mail Evie to you instead? Please, pretty please?

Is that really necessary? ✽deelee sorry to hear about this morning but we're still going for a walk on Sat, you won't get out of it that easily ;) Don't worry, Im not piking . Need need need to get her better so I can come play- "ahem" work, on wednesdays! :p (she wasn't too bad on the scale of things, just got a bit freaked out by a dominant dog walking behind us)

Oh my god. I know nothing. Nekhbet yet again you have shown me how much there is to learn...

Good stuff Monika!! and Ruth!! Do you have any ideas of what a session will involve? I know there were some conflicting ideas yesterday. I really want to come- Yesterday I was very excited at the prospect, but this morning had a bit of an "episode" with Evie and another dog (first in ages, very disappointing ) and am concerned that she might not be up to it yet. Will keep an eye on it and see how she goes, she has improved immensely so you might see me soon.

Wow. Thats impressive! ;) Never thought to do that! Actually I prefer she does it when we are out- the yard stinks enough as it is.

I'll work with you too Ruth!! ;) Elle&Diesel sounds like we can be the team dunces together! Seriously- I presume we are all talking about practising and co-operative learning? More of an organic process to develop the skills we already have? 7pm sounds do-able to me BTW.

Not fair, I still want one. So good to hear an update BP- I've been wondering about you!! ;)

Turning its back/going away from what it fears might be a "default coping" behaviour or strategy, for example. Or looking at its owner when it is worried about something. As to what is done (and there can be many different variations to it - what is chosen depends on dog and dog/handler combo.) You need to show/teach the dog that behaviour first so the dog can begin to understand that the lunging/aggression is not the reason he/she survives/stays unscathed. Thanks Erny, that makes a lot of sense to me.

What kind of time are you thinking?

After a year of attempting loose lead walking with little success, I got a trainer in to help. I was relieved when the trainer gave me the go-ahead to get her to heel the whole time on our walks- Evie needs a LOT of firm control to maintain her focus on me and this helps. So she must walk at heel the whole time, with some convenient onleash "free" time (a couple of minutes sniffing time at a tree) at my choosing to relieve any possible tension. I am very strict on this and our walks are immeasurably better now with the lead loose 95% of the time. Happy owner, happy dog. Im all for other people letting their dogs smell the roses so to speak, but it just does not work for us.

Ooooh a weekday classs!!! Good idea girls! Ive just started working day shifts- I might be able to come!! Obedience for me. I'd love to do agility, I think Evie would be really good at it, but she is certainly not reliable offlead so that rules that out. But if her obedience got better... :wink:

Erny, I know you didnt want to elaborate but I have heard this before and it confuses me. I cant imagine what behaviour could be a default coping behavior. Can you possible just explain that?

My staffy x does it too , with lots of training she is getting better though. When we have guests we leave her outside for about 30 minutes, so that she realises the visitors arent there for her, then when she comes in she is allowed to come and sit for a pat. Then must go onto her bed. We do a lot of "on your bed/stay" from then on. Each time is better than the last and Im pretty sure she will get the hang of it soon. At any rate she is a lot calmer than she was. Another tip from our trainer we got was to not allow your dog to greet you as you arrive home. Initially ignore(no eyecontact) and first greet any other household members and wait til the dog has settled down and THEN call it over for a pat. Its all about making the dog realise it is NOT the centre of attention. Just wanted to add, if you put your dog on lead for the meet and greet , get your dog to sit and put your foot on the slack of the leash so if your dog tries to jump it cant. I find that its easier to control the dog than holding the leash tight in your hand.

This has been something I have discovered with my dog. With help from my trainer I have tried several different approaches with varying success. Finally after following my instincts (me being the one who knows my dog best) and in consultation with the trainer, I seem to have hit on the root of the problem and are (touch wood) now able to keep her aggression under control. She is a much calmer dog for it too, but it has taken some months of soulsearching and tears (comtemplation of PTS too at one point) to even begin to see a glimmer of hope. We are not out of the woods yet either but I feel much more positive (this week anyway!! I'll be posting an identical topic next week no doubt ) We work very hard on our leadership but really each dog is different and there are obviously factors that have turned our dogs aggressive that we can never be sure of which is why it can take more time for some dogs. ( Does that make sense? I do ramble sometimes ) Hugs to you 4 Paws and keep at it- maybe next week will be better.

Violetmay, I understand how stressful an aggressive dog can be- I have one too. But I think you will find that seeing a behaviourist will actually make your life LESS stress filled. Excercises they will give you will take no more time out of your day, they will just become part of your routine. The biggest things you will learn will involve teaching your dog that it is the lowest in the pack- and they are things you will need to apply consistently, not as a training "program" as such. If you are like me you are probably lying awake at night worrying, with some help you may be able to deal with this quickly and your life will get back to normal. Until you do get to see someone, keep him close to you and dont allow him to even get near a dog. I know the conventional wisdom says that you shouldnt convey tension to your dog by pulling on the lead when you are approaching another dog, but I think this just made my dog feel I was giving her the greenlight to "protect". Lately at the first sign that she is getting tense I pull her into a tight heel on her check chain and she just cannot lunge. Fortunately she has calmed a lot now that she knows I am in charge, not her- and at the very least now I am confident that she will not be able to bite another dog. Good luck, and get some help!!

Sweetie- hugs to you :cool: I know how hard it is. I have a love hate relationship with my dog for other reasons (dog aggression for one) and she has only survived by the skin of her teeth and because I finally got help from a trainer. IF you can handle it (it must be hellish being a single mum as well) just stick with it, muddle through and when you can afford it get a trainer in. It does make a big difference- my dog aint fixed, but I understand a lot more about how to get there. Oh and NOW she heels!!! Good luck, Dee

Given that my dog does NOT play nice, I cant help with tips BUT, If you do a search, recently there have been a few threads about how to get pups to play nicely. You are certainly not alone in your concerns. I think you are being a very smart and responsible dog owner looking for advice on this sooner rather than later. It is definitely a very good idea to teach Martha not to be a bully. Worst that can happen is that you will have a dog with lovely manners!! :D

HA! Maybe a good week for you guys!! Not for me... Actually, I've had worse, but the weeks not done yet! Now, Reddii- have you still been applying the tight lead approach? Lately, rather than keeping a loose leash to signal "all is well", Ive been forced to pull Evie tightly in when she starts to arc up - this is to stop her from snapping at me (sadly she got away with it once and now thinks it ok to do- and of course its NOT OK). I have been finding the same reaction you did in your first post- it seems to diffuse her "anger". I certainly feel less stress myself knowing that Im more in control- which obviously helps but I know is not the reason why she is calmer quicker. Just wondering if you continued and you think that is the source of your success?

Thats EXCELLENT Kavik!! I have always been especially respectful of your advice knowing your experience with Zoe. Its great to hear you have had progress! And oh so inspiring!! Its very easy to shove these difficult dogs into the too hard basket and just "manage" them- I know I find it daunting. GOOD ON YOU!! Ok, time to get on Amazon... Dont spose you guys could put down a list of the top 5 books helping with aggression?