corvus

My dogs in general walk calmly by other dogs except Kestrel, and Kestrel is the one that has had the least socialisation with other dogs out of the three of them. They can all also interact politely with strange dogs and all of them will play with unfamiliar dogs and I honestly find that not only gratifying but also useful and I believe it helps them a lot in coping with suburbia where they do meet a lot of dogs inevitably. Furthermore, my most social dog is an awesome stooge dog for work with reactive dogs, and can do close work like few dogs can. There is a lot to be said for stellar social skills, and dogs don't get those without direct experience to help them develop. I see dogs all the time that have had little to do with other dogs and over time this drove them to become fearful and anxious. It breaks my heart to see dogs that are afraid of their own kind for no reason other than that they just don't understand dogs well enough to be able to interact with them confidently. On the other side, I see dogs that are dog park regulars whose owners cannot walk them past other dogs because they so badly want to greet (very often staffy mixes!). Give me the latter any day of the week. It's usually easier to work on, and much HAPPIER dogs. There is a happy medium. I don't think a dog daycare is a terrible idea, but it depends on the individual dog. For some dogs, their social interactions really need to be carefully watched and managed to ensure they build the right kinds of experiences. Two of mine it would have been madness to send them. For other dogs, they are more resilient and a well run dog daycare can be a good environment for them to visit once or twice a week. My most social dog went to daycare twice a week for several months as a young dog. He adored it. He was always very excited to arrive and couldn't get in there fast enough. It did not turn him into a dog that loses his mind around other dogs, because guess what, I trained him.

One of my dogs once ate SO MANY bluebottles that she threw up and managed to give herself a taste aversion to them. All of my dogs have eaten them from time to time, but only the dried ones that have been on the beach for a while.

Like I said, it's hard to know what is driving her comments at the moment. She should be prepared to quote numbers, even if they are educated estimates at best, but lots of people are not, and I'm not sure if anyone has asked her to. I'd like to know what's going on for real as well. Wait for another Four Corners report, I guess.

Thing about dogs is I'm smarter than they are, and I have more tools at my disposal, and better foresight, and I'm more compassionate and empathetic, and much better at planning. Nature gave me those advantages, so I'm happy to use them and call that "natural". ;)

I'm not sure exactly what Karen Dawson's experiences are with human-directed aggression and anxiety in ex-racers. Frankly, the industry has chewed her up and spat her out, and it's hard to know what is driving her comments. Whatever her stance and however right or wrong she is, no one deserves the sickening way she has been treated. That being said, what do you do? She's still seen a lot more ex-racing greyhounds than I have, for example, and seen them from more sources and regions. The industry isn't the same everywhere, and in the past perhaps there has been more self-selection occurring with the greyhounds that get sent for assessment with GAP than there is now that in NSW at least, it's a lot harder to euthanise a racing greyhounds than it used to be. So, I wouldn't comment, I guess. I don't know what the situation is. I haven't seen much evidence of human-directed aggression or anxiety from dogs I've seen at tracks or in training. That might be because it's not very common or it might be because they don't usually make it to the track, or maybe I have missed out on seeing a sizeable portion of the greyhound population.

It's not "singling a breed out" to acknowledge or indeed warn that potentially dangerous decisions are being made about their management. I don't think many people appreciate what these dogs can be like. They may never have seen a small dog, but they have been trained to chase and grab things about the size of a small dog that are fluffy and make noises. They have been trained to do little else, and they have been so heavily conditioned to do it that often they are not able to think beyond doing it. I worry that many more people will appreciate this in the near future the way the industry is attempting to "address" their problems. It won't do greyhounds any favours, that is for sure.

I'm not sure you can assert that it is something put forward by so many organisations when it hasn't even been stipulated what exactly this training looks like. As I said, Delta wants trainers to refer aggression cases. So, what training method are we talking about, exactly? The OP has vanished, so my guess is it was a pot stirring post and that's it.

It is SO MUCH MORE complicated than "methods". A method could mean a broad approach of first do no harm, or it could be a specific training technique. Delta trains their students not to take on aggression cases at all. They are supposed to refer to a vet behaviourist. So first off, there is no "Delta method" for dealing with human-aggressive dogs. Whatever Delta-trained trainers are doing with them, they were not taught to do that by Delta. Secondly, dogs bite people sometimes, and sometimes that is a direct response to the training method and sometimes it's in spite of the training method. However, once a dog has bitten someone, no trainer can truly claim to be able to fix that dog so it will never do that again. That's just not how behaviour works. It is rare for an animal to try a strategy once and never ever try it again. This is particularly the case with aggressive behaviour, because usually animals that are expressing it are in a state of extremely high arousal, and/or other options do not appear available to them. That may be just their perception or it may be reality. Whatever the case, aggression is often effective - it makes people and other dogs back off. And you are playing with fire if you don't back off. If they really want to hurt you and feel like they need to, you will end up in hospital. Any trainer that claims they can fix this so that it never occurs again are either ignorant or dishonest. We have no business making those promises. It just depends so much on so many other factors. Thirdly, people with dogs that display problem behaviours like this are usually chasing that last 1%. Or the last 5%. Or the last 0.05%. It doesn't matter what methods they use, unless they can either successfully counter-condition or desensitise the dog to every single potential trigger in every single combination with every single potentially contributing factor (pain, a run of perceived failures, frustration, stress... I could go on all day) or they can control the environment sufficiently that the perfect storm will never arise, there is a risk the behaviour will occur again. As our training takes hold, it gets harder to train for those last triggering scenarios. Sometimes you manage it and a new triggering scenario arises. Sometimes you have a dog that is just that kind of dog and there is always going to be something. I've known dogs that went years and years without showing the problem behaviour and then one day, the planets aligned and there it was again. Lastly, behavioural medication can be a critical part of treatment. The goal is not usually sedation. I don't know where you are getting your information about dosage, but it would be extremely irresponsible for a vet to prescribe medication at a dose that is high enough to risk the health of the dog. In fact, it could result in them losing their licence to practice if it is not justifiable. I have a dog on long-term behavioural medication, because he is a happier dog on it. It sure made training him easier. In fact, these drugs absolutely are indicated for aggression. What is contraindicated is punitive training approaches. The reason why is the risk involved. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't and sometimes it makes the dog worse. Trainers that use these methods always argue about the risk, because they judge it to be very low. Personally, I would rather not take that risk if I don't have to, and I very rarely feel that it's necessary.

I hate contacting breeders. Some are lovely, some never respond, some are wildly unhelpful, and some are rude and condescending. Rescue is the same. Given I always compose an e-mail that is polite and details what I am looking for in a dog and asks if their breed/rescue dog might suit me, I have little idea what is likely to trigger someone to be unpleasant. So, the uncertainty makes me anxious. Looking for a dog is an emotional thing. Sometimes even a polite "the dog you are interested in has already found a home" is a bit painful, especially when it's the 15th answer you've got like that.

Our Backseat Buddy only lasted about 4 years. We currently have one from a brand I can't remember. It has non-slip backing and tabs that get shoved between the bench and backrest cushions to keep it in place. It is quite good.

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The greyhound industry needs to address their socialisation practices as a priority. To me, this is putting the cart before the horse, and I hope it doesn't prove costly for people's small animals. Assessing greyhounds for predatory behaviour is a curly issue, and evidence for the efficacy of assessments is pretty thin on the ground AFAIK.

As a total sucker for grown-up spitz breeds of which several originated in Japan, I appreciate the appeal. However, I would not get one of these breeds for a suburban home, and doubly not if my lifestyle involved a lot of being out and about in public with the dog. Reason why is that many of these dogs are reserved. They are not unfriendly exactly, but they don't want to be friends with everyone, and out and about in suburbia, that is really hard to manage. I know, because I have two dogs that are not really ideal for suburbia. They take work. Will they hike with me? Absolutely. It's their favourite thing. They like the beach. But dog parks... not so much. The neighbourhood's friendly labradors and staffies? Nope. Kids running around screaming in the park? Er... They will need some distance to handle that. My Finnish lapphund, though, is an ideal suburban dog. As long as you don't mind the coat. He will certainly come hiking with us, for hours. Not much for running or swimming, but he loves everyone and he's really hard to unsettle. Friends with any stranger. He's fine off leash. It takes a bit of work to keep him responsive with strong recalls, but not as hard as it is with my podengo. I'd also go for a Samoyed, and I'd consider a Japanese spitz. I'd be careful with Finnish spitz, though. That is a hunting breed. I have only met one and she was not an easy dog. Buhund would be worth checking out if there is a litter coming up. I have a vallhund, and I don't think they are an easy suburban dog. Quite doable, but you have to appreciate they are a cattle driving breed first and foremost. Shikoku are gorgeous, but they are serious, grown-up dogs. I wouldn't consider it unless I lived in a quiet area. The more time I spend in suburbia with highly strung or not massively sociable dogs, the more I promise myself my next dog will be hyper-sociable. It comes with its own challenges (not everyone wants a dog on their head), but much easier on the dog day-to-day, and so much easier to manage.

Some dogs are torn about fetch. They love to chase, but they also want to possess the toy, so when you ask them to bring it back to you, you are putting them in an impossible state of conflict. They can't both possess the toy and also give it to you for another round of chase-the-toy. Some dogs will endlessly bring it and then drop it and then pounce on it as soon as you move to pick it up. You can help them out by making the decision easier. If you have several toys that are the same, then you can shape her to bring the toy she has closer and closer to you by throwing another toy as the reward. You will do a bit of leg work at first to keep yourself stocked with toys, and she may at first take her toy with her when she chases the second one and get all conflicted about which one to pick up. She should figure out that she can just focus on one toy, and she is not going to notice when you pick up the one she dropped, so she doesn't get the sense she is losing possession of a valued resource. She gave it up and got another one instead. Keep the toy tosses fast to keep her moving and pretty soon she will probably stop stressing so much about bringing it to you.

Most likely, the reason why he is doing it is because learning history. He is getting something out of it that he wants. It is hard to say what that is without knowing how this developed, but you can figure out a lot by looking at what happens as a result. You said he jumped on the GR and she went away. I would bet, that is your answer right there. For whatever reason, he wanted her to go away, and he achieved that. If you start from there, along with the principle that the more he practices a behaviour, the more he will do it in future, then it should be clear what you need to do. Prevent him from doing what you don't want to, preferably with a leash or avoiding those situations. Encourage him to do something you want him to in those situations instead, like coming to you when called. Make the latter very worth his while. He should get what he wants (away from the GR), plus an additional reward (e.g. food). It will be most effective if he doesn't perform the behaviour at all - i.e. you call him away before he does something you don't want him to.

If he has recently had an altercation through that very fence with another dog acting aggressively, maybe he responded to the context more than anything. It may well be a one-off.

Supposedly it can take up to 8 weeks to see the effects of the medication. Anecdotally, it seems 3-4 is common.

My dog was like that for about the first 4 weeks of being on fluoxetine. It took several months for him to fully return to his usual bright and perky self (but without the insanity). I understand that is an unusually long time. It was worth it, though. He has responded well to it and is a much happier dog.

Karen Riddell at Spot Dog might be worthwhile checking out: https://www.facebook.com/Spotdogtraining/ It's not necessarily that she sees "sucker", it's just that the signal isn't clear and nor are the consequences. Often people that try to talk their dog into doing something are giving a lot of signals all at once and most of them are meaningless. A puppy has to try to sift through them all to find something meaningful. With a short attention span and no quick and clear consequences forthcoming, they don't learn what the meaningful signal is. They just do what they like. They usually turn out to be perfectly cooperative once they know what they are being asked and that they will get good things when they do it.

Soft doesn't have to mean a pushover. And opportunistic puppies aren't necessarily disrespectful. Learning theory doesn't need to be applied firmly, just consistently.

I'm a bit confused. You said that the times she has bitten recently, it has all been people she knew. My response to this is to think maybe she is most expressive with those she already knows, because she trusts them more. It wouldn't be uncommon for a dog's fear to suppress aggressive responses. In other words, she is too scared of strangers to aggress towards them. However, you seem to be suggesting this is part of a bigger problem. Like any time someone comes, her responses have become more extreme in recent times, and she is not coping with them being there. If I have understood correctly, my first guess would be that the visitors stress her out, and she is most likely to express this where she is least suppressed by fear - i.e. with familiar people. But, it doesn't entirely fit the pattern. I would expect the aggression to come out when the upsetting stimulus was present. So, that would suggest she is not okay with these familiar people being near her, either. Which would prompt me to consider she is in pain. If she's not, then it sounds like she is becoming sensitised, which is undoable, but you probably need to do some detective work to identify why it happened in the first place. I'm getting the feeling this is complicated.

Can you set up a pen for her in an area where you spend a lot of time so she can be with you but also physically prevented from doing anyone any harm? If you pay her for going in every single time, there is a good chance she will continue to go in on her own. I would talk to your vet about some behavioural medication. You could try crowdfunding a vet behaviourist visit. I would support you.

Snake avoidance is an interesting topic. I would like to tackle it practically in the future, but seem to be forever planning to launch projects and I only have time to launch about a fifth of them. This one is high on my list, though! Particularly because I am trail running all year 'round with a small, highly alert dog that chases critters. Recalls have served us well with dogs and snakes in the past, but we live in fear of the day we don't see the snake in time. I don't really trust any of the current methods used by most trainers, whether they are aversive or positive reinforcement-based. I question if you can learn to avoid something without the appropriate negative emotional state associated with a noxious stimulus. Having said that, I would not go down the route of snake = shock, either. It is crude and risky IMO. I have one dog at least who I suspect I could transform from curious about snakes to actively attacking snakes with that approach. He's a cattle driving dog. His solution to things he doesn't like is to drive them away. Often with his teeth. I think for avoidance training to be humane, the animal should be first set up with the skills to turn an aversive stimulus off. That way, we hopefully retain a thinking animal once the snakes are brought out. That should minimise incorrect associations, avoid panicked responses, and give us plenty to positively reinforce and a dog that knows what they are doing and why.

Yeah, I would not be walking into a situation where I knew a dog was likely to bite me. Er, it hurts! And if for some reason he escalates, he can do you serious damage, more than just bruises. It's also scary as hell being around a dog that might at any time bite you. If your friend wants you to give him another chance, she has to make absolutely sure he cannot bite you. A leash at a minimum. I ask for barriers when I visit a dog with a bite history. I want a door or fence between me and it, thanks. And I want there to be a leash as well if door or gate is going to be opened. I don't want him rushing through people's legs to get to me. I explain that it's not good for anyone if the dog bites me. I don't want to be bitten because it bloody hurts, but I also don't want their dog to practice that behaviour anyway. I don't want to be the one that provokes them that far. And I don't want them to see their dog hurt someone. I would encourage you not to interact with this dog. It is too hard to say how it might go. Sometimes a treat and retreat game can win a leery dog over, but then again, sometimes it seems to make dogs more aroused and more eager to try to control you, which might make them even worse.

IME with Northern breeds, you do best gaining their willing cooperation. Working with them rather than trying to be the boss. It is the same with my podengo as well. Their cooperation should not be taken for granted. They will give it to you if you make it worth their while, and that is just the kind of creatures they are. It's why I like working with them so much. They don't just do it because you told them, unless they are humouring you. You have to work to make it something they want to do, and if you do that enough, they become reasonably reliable. Barring spitz moments.