Rascalmyshadow

I don't know much about this crowd funding idea, we are not people that usually ask for money or that type of help, advice yes. I guess it"s something we may need to seriously consider if medical issues are ruled out and we don't want to lose her. This is the first time I haven't worked and had plenty of money put away for these situations, its also the first time I have been completely out of the dog industry so I have lost all of the connections (vets, trainers etc) that I once had.

Yes this seems to be our situation, she also rarely leaves the house. She is very scared of the collar and lead so we learnt instead of getting it out before leaving the house we would let the dogs into the front yard then get all there gear out, this seemed to get her excited enough to gently coax her to have it on, if she ran back inside before putting it on we would leave her at home. Over time she improved so instead of running away she would crawl to us with her tail between her legs so obviously still scared but actually wanting to come, once we were out walking she was fine as long as we didn't take to a particular park (we there one day and it was full of prickles she never forgot). Then she had the infections and palate surgery which meant using a harness and no collar as it would irritate her throat, so we went back to square one to teach her to accept the harness. Since moving house I have to drive into town before going for a walk, I physically cant push the pram up and down the hill we live on and its too hard for Rascal now he's getting older, but both Claudia and Rascal hate the car (the reason Rascal's original family gave him up) so generally neither of them will come, I usually end up taking Hugo by himself and then walking around the property playing games with Rascal, Claudia doesn't like the cold or wet weather so unless its hot she will only play inside.

Oh I haven't even thought about there being a duck and geese section lol not too good from a long timer. Il get on there and post a few pics.

Ok just to clarify a couple of things, our girl is an angel if we don't have any visitors, she is also fine with my toddler unless she's on one of our laps. She is not nervous or stressed and is a happy playful dog. When she first got sick was when she started this behaviour, it only happened with people she didn't know when they came into the house or on the rare occasion she decided to come for a walk. Before then we didn't have any issues with her. In the last few weeks the behaviour has extended to people she does know, but her behaviour with us has not changed. As soon as visitors sit down she is fine and will jump up for a cuddle and pat but as soon as they stand up she goes for their legs. We don't have visitors often except for my mum and brother and parents in law (on the odd occasion our best mate), I generally don't let my kids bring their friends over so the house is normally just her people or those she knows well. I don't think she is sore since she's happy to be handled all over without any reaction, I am concerned that maybe she is getting another bacterial or fungal sinus infection which is what I'm going to get checked along with everything else. I put this post up just to get outsiders opinions, I am well experienced but sometimes when your in the middle of a situation you miss stuff or can't see the bigger picture.

Here are a couple of pics of our girl, just so everyone can put a face to her name and see why we so much don't want to PTS.

I've spoke with the our vet clinic and she is booked in next week to have a complete check over and be assessed by a vet behaviourist they have there. First consult is normal price but if she needs proper behavioural consults they are $300 a visit! Hopefully we will get answers without spending so much, there's no way my husband will agree to it.

Wow no we are definitely not like that, we are all quite calm including my kids. Yelling and carrying on is completely banned in our house, Rascal has bad noise phobia and it freaks him out so generally no one behaves like that. Normally when we go to answer the door Claudia will bark then either go to her crate or jump into her bed in the loungeroom, I usually just have to tell her to stay there and as long as I'm watching she does. If it's someone she doesn't know well, one of us will just pick her up and put her in the bedroom. The three bites were immediate family and our best mate, all of which have always come in without a worry so none of us bothered to watch her or tell her to go to her bed. My mum was the most shocked because she has come over to visit every Sat for years and never had an incident with any of our dogs including Claudia.

I can't lock her in her crate she has a heat mat in it, if she got too hot she would have no way of moving and cooling down, she would also have no access to water. We also cant muzzle her, she is a 1.8kg apple head Chi with narrowed sinuses, apart from not being able to fit a muzzle, it is too risky. If her vet check comes back all clear we will assume it's behavioural and start with medication. I have baby geese in my laundry at the moment but in a few weeks they will be outside so I am going to move her crate into there (we don't use the room for anything anyway) and get my husband to fit a baby gate. The room is tucked away so she won't be able to constantly see anyone but at least she'll have space and won't be able to toilet on my carpet. It will then be making sure she is put in there before letting anyone in the house. Still going to be hard work and a bit stressful for me if people are here too long, but at least I will know she is comfortable and no one can be bitten. Il get a DAP diffuser as well for the room and see if that helps.

She has an open crate in the hallway she goes into which is her safe zone, if I know someone is going to be at the house for any length of time I move it into my room, that way she can see out of the baby gate, can't reach anyone, has access to water and room to move. Until recently that worked but now she carries on so much I'm not sure when she's needing the toilet or when she just wants out, a couple of times I've ignored her (after taking her out) and she's gone to the toilet on my carpet. We don't have a lot of spare room to set up a pen for her thsts why we use my bedroom. Il start with medication see if that helps her at all then I guess look into the other suggested options. I assume she's doing it out of some sort of fear although her body language looks more assertive than scared.

Her behaviour isn't exactly unpredictable, it's more she has unexpectedly done it to a few people in the past she was ok with, what she's doing is something we are usually onto.

If I was to start her on medication how do I go about re-introducing her to people in our house, I can't do it on lead because she runs and hides as soon as she sees it, she's so quick if she's going to react.

Is she an approachable person and someone that would be happy to offer advice if we aren't looking at rehoming?

Not harsh and I am trying to come to terms with that. Whats stopping me is her being so good with myself, husband and older two kids any of us can do anything with her and she's not a problem, also every time she's bitten it's been when someone has either stood up to walk or just stepped in the door. If everyone is sitting down she will be friendly but as soon as they stand up she will go for their legs. Her behaviour with my toddler only happens if she is on our laps otherwise she's fine with her as well.

Not that I can think of, apart from wanting to spend most of her time in her crate, but I think that's just because it has a heating pad and unless it's over 25/26 degrees she is cold.

Thanks for the replies I am booking her in for a vet visit and will have a chat about trialling medication, I hope we can find something that helps, il also get her breathing etc reassessed. We have gotten used to her behaviour and have been able to manage it but in the last few weeks she has unexpectedly bitten three separate people, two of which she's known since we brought her home and has always liked, the third she has seen occasionally, they are all dog people, she would have also bitten my kids friends if I hadn't locked her up. Luckily she is only tiny so no major damage but I still can't excuse the behaviour as it's hard enough to break skin.

I need some opinions from an outside source to help me make a very hard but I guess necessary decision. One of our dogs is a 5year old chihuahua, we got her at around 8months old from a registered breeder, she had been handled in the ring by a young boy. When she arrived she was terrified, would not come for a walk with the other dogs, would cower and crawl away if she saw a collar or lead and was scared of most visitors. A couple of years ago she got sick and was misdiagnosed multiple times, because of this she ended up with severe fungal and bacterial infection in her nasal cavity, she required intensive treatment as well as palate surgery. With all this happening she started to show aggression to unfamiliar visitors. We Began putting her in our room behind a baby gate if anyone but a select few people came over, that initially solved the problem. Fast forward to now and she's become a lot worse, she is fine with myself, husband and two older kids but I have to keep her off my lap if my toddler is up as she will lunge at her (and yes we are always supervising)she's ok if she's on the floor or in her bed, even visitors she's previously been good with (my mum, mother/father in law etc) she will have a go at without being provoked. The last two weekends my kids have had friends stay and it's been a nightmare, I've had to continually lock her in my room, but she bangs on the baby gate and barks constantly, she peed/pooped on my carpet numerous times and is just not happy with anyone being here. Her nasal cavity has narrowed quite a bit from scar tissue and her breathing is bad if she exerts herself or eats anything that's too dry, I'm not sure if that's what's making her behave so defensively but there's nothing we can do to fix it. I'm at the stage where I'm considering PTS but we all adore her and none of us want to make that decision. I don't know what else we can do, I can't afford a behaviourist as I no longer work and she is making our lives very difficult. Please no harsh comments as I'm already struggling with this. What would others do in this situation.

Sounds like the lever/tongue needs replacing, you should be able to get one from any supplier that sells the clippers. It's very easy to change yourself.

I find snakes completely fascinating and to be able to wander around the property and go snake spotting is awsome, however I do worry that my cats and dogs are at risk. I don't know what Rascal would have done if I hadn't been with him, hopefully not try to kill it, he has always been gentle with every animal he's met even tiny day old chicks, so I was amazed to see such a reaction, he just knew somehow this animal was a threat. Last summer not long after we moved here I was at the doctors in town, they receptionist told me they had three people in one week tell them they had found either copperheads or tigers in their houses at night, she warned me to shut up all doors and windows when we went to bed.

I thought he must of smelt it, he automatically knew there was danger. Yeah I got close enough to use my phone to take pics but not close enough to get bitten, it was quite shy unlike the tiger yesterday.

Yesterday my family and I decided to do a whole lot of gardening (lot to do with an acre of gardens) while my husband and kids were planting out some vegies I went for a walk around the property with Rascal, Hugo and a couple of the cats, we were walking along one of the grassed paths (gardens on each side) when Rascal suddenly went stiff and started to bark like I've never heard, he was looking straight into a spot that is heavily planted. I could see something between two plants, thinking it was a lizard (but being cautious) I picked up a long stick and made an opening to find a rather large tiger snake staring back at me, it stood its ground but obviously it got a fright, it reared back and started to hiss while flicking its tongue. I picked up Rascal called Hugo and the two cats and went back to the house. I have no idea how he knew it was there he couldn't have possibly seen it, or not to get too close, he has never been in contact with a snake before yet he knew to give a warning, thank god he did because it has made us much more aware while walking around and working in the garden. I thought I'd go for a walk around earlier today but this time I shut all the gates to the back half of the property and left the dogs up near the house in the main yards, glad I did because this time I came across a copperhead (I'm sure that's what it was) hanging out on the rocks where there is a natural spring leading to our pond. This time I had my phone on me and got a few pictures.

15/19 but a couple were hard to pick without seeing the dog from all angles and the entire situation it's in.

Wow I haven't been on here in a while but this story hit home. This is the exact scenario I got my first poodle from, I met him when I was in my second year of grooming (he belonged to a customer). He was originally given to a little girl, she grew tired of him except when she used him for show and tell etc, over time he was put out more and more in a concrete pen with nothing but a kennel and food bowls and the housekeeper did most of the feeding and management. They wouldn't even take him in the car because he accidently scratched the seats in their BMW, I would walk past the house on the way to work and pick him up then drop him home at the end of the day after he was groomed, this became his only outing. I so badly wanted to adopt him, then one day my boss got a call to say the owner was moving and asked if she knew of anyone that wanted him, I picked him up the next day, the owner handed him over along with his pedigree papers. The poor thing had never played with toys or other dogs, seen the beach, chewed a bone or had anyone he could bond with. His owners were multi millionaires but couldn't be bothered even treating his epilepsy or having his rotten teeth fixed. He was 4 1/2 when he became mine, I lost him on his 10th birthday. I was only 18 when I took him in, he taught me so much and is the reason poodles became my life. I have never had another dog like him, he loved everyone and everything and lived the rest of his life to the fullest.

Has it worked out fine because that's was the owners say or have you stayed in very close contact and watched the dogs behaviour, subtle body language etc? Are you talking about just one breed? Sometimes it does work but from experience with numerous breeds, even when owners think everything is ok often that's not the case.

Many breeders will sell litter mates it makes them quick $$$, but a good breeder that has experience and knowledge wouldn't, if I asked the question and a breeder agreed I'd run a mile. It's not just them bonding with one another more than the owner, if you spend plenty of time with them that is not a huge issue, it's the competition between them, they never get the chance to developed and grow without rivalry. I have had customers not even realise their dogs had a problem since there was no physical fighting, until they lost one, all of a sudden instead of the remaining dog missing their litter mate their true personality appeared they became happier and more out going.

Dyson, we head one it lasted 14 years, replaced it with a Miele, it's a good vacuum but the Dyson was better.