Paws4Thought

While this doesn't help you much, I just wanted to let you know you are not alone!! My 5 month old puppy also barks at people and dogs. This is decreasing more as he gets further away from that normal fear period. Having said that, he still does seem wary of people and dogs but with a little encouragement (food encouragement is his favourite!) he'll end up relaxing a little and being more accepting. My approach is not to make a big deal out of his barking. You can usually tell from their body language what their general feeling is about a situation, and its wariness I try to get positive things associated with what he is wary of. My only advice is to persist. If he responds well to food, you can bring some high value treats and when he looks to you instead of the other dog, praise him and treat him if appropriate. Sometimes if you find you are worried he will start barking when you see another dog or person, you can inadvertently communicate your tension to him which will help set him off. My main theory on that one is just to stay relaxed. (Apologies if this is aimed at the wrong level - not sure what your experience is or what you've tried). Are you continuing his socialisation and obedience? I find this has gone a long way to help my pup. My little guy socialises regularly and frequently, and as I said, he seems to be improving. I hope that helps, or at least makes you feel more normal! :rolleyes:

Hi everyone. My 5 month old Ridgeback X has an annoying habit of pawing at me. For the life of me, I can't remember what I did to stop my 2 year old dog doing the same thing! I'm not completely green when it comes to training and behaviour but I just can't remember how to stop this behaviour! At the moment, I get him to sit, but at least half the time he will resort to pawing at me. I give him a firm "uh-uh!" and move his paws off me. After he has all four feet on the ground for a few moments, I praise. Shall I continue with this or does anybody have other suggestions for keeping his little mitts off me? (This problem might be exacerbated by the fact that he is currently isolated most of the day due to an elbow injury, I'm not sure. I know he's quite energetic but can't burn off his energy and I've noticed his pawing has been worse since he's been isolated so much). Thanks in advance for any suggestions! :rolleyes:

Thanks Kelpie-i. You make an excellent point. I agree, but I must clarify I have tried that method too. I did that with high value food, too. I also tried to make sure that when I used the method of taking the bowl away, I instantly gave him a high value treat from the other hand, then replaced the bowl immediately. I think you make a good point about what drives the behaviour - I too would sock somebody one for snatching my food. Even if they gave me bits of chocolate to placate me! I'm thinking of leaving him alone for a bit to hit the "reset" switch so to speak, then I might try the method we're speaking of again. Thanks for your suggestions, much appreciated.

Name: Donatello (Donny for short) Breed: RR x Rottweiler D.O.B: 02/02/08 Likes: Food, intermittent cuddles, eating bark from the garden and playing with Rembrandt (our 2 year old dog). Dislikes: Having bark taken off him, and also the times that Remmy doesn't want to play. He's not so "new" anymore, but he's still worth showing off, I think :rolleyes:

By the way, can anybody recommend a good behaviourist to engage if I do decide to go that way, regarding this? I'm in Springfield, Queensland (if it helps).

Thanks for the feedback - I'll look into the joint guard (anything that is less likely to get stolen is ok with me!). I didn't know the Cartofen should be administered on an ongoing basis - I'll keep that in mind, thank you

Thanks for the feedback guys. You know, that's just the strange thing. I haven't focused on his food as an issue for months. I left him to it. He was eating it separately fine, eating it while being watched fine, no dramas. Its certainly not something I've fixated on for quite some time now. I relaxed significantly after his responses were better with lower value food (i.e. dry biscuits). Maybe its a blip on the radar? Perhaps if I give him a few weeks of eating without interference, he might relax. I've only tried to get involved two nights in a row now, so perhaps I'll consider ignoring him after the food bowl goes down again. Thanks. (of course, any more suggestions are most welcome). PS: TOT works well with him. Its only after he starts eating that interruptions are not tolerated by him. I liked the pinned TOT stuff, plan to keep it up, it was a nice variation on our previous theme of just sit, wait, do as I ask then eat when I tell you kind of thing :cool:

I must admit, while I don't know much about this particular 'problem' I know there certainly are other dogs around that eat poo. That's about the only thing I can do, is reassure you that you're not the only one! Unfortunately, I don't know why they do it or how to fix it, as I've never had to look into the issue before. Hopefully somebody else here can provide some insight! What breed is the dog? Good luck

Thanks for your response! I must admit I am hesitant to detail my particular issue here for a few reasons. One is I don't want anybody to think I'm not trying as hard as I can to do what's right for my dog, and any signs of aggression are often taken as the handler/owner being completely inexperienced. Secondly, I don't want to risk the thread escalating or derailing as I've seen some others go, and I admit its a bit of a sensitive issue for me! BUT! Having said that - here's the story (I apologise for the length). I have a two year old Rhodesian Ridgeback X Rottweiler. He was brough home too young (unbeknownst to me then - around 6 or 7 weeks old) but he's turned out pretty much to be a great dog. He has his idiosyncracies, like any dog, which we try to work on. He's been to puppy school, obedience training, etc since he was able, and has continued. We currently go twice a week, after moving interstate recently. Now he's generally responsive to all training, but all his life I've had a problem with what I thought was resource guarding. He can't be given a bone, because he growls and carries on - the lips curl back, the teeth show, the sound level changes and the sounds vary. You can get the bone off him, but I always knew this behaviour was unacceptable. Likewise, if he gets anything of higher value than dog biscuits, he has similar behaviour. He growls, curls the lips back, goes more still, makes lots of loud and varying noises, and generally expresses his dissatisfaction. Now I pay a great deal of attention to my dog and I know his limits. He's never bitten. I have never thought he would. But that's not the point. This is unacceptable. We've tried heaps of things. To clarify, I read a great deal, I talk to a great deal of people with varying approaches and styles. I've tried the 'scare' method by throwing an object on the floor nearby to make a sound. I've tried the 'fair exchange' system (though more with the bone than the food bowl). I've tried growling at him and telling him no sternly. I've tried taking the bowl from him and not giving it back until he exhibits the correct behaviour. Repeatedly. I've tried showing him me coming to hsi food bowl and touching him are ok because I add higher value food to the bowl. I've tried these methods (and maybe more that I can't recall at the moment) over periods of time for success. Eventually, at the recommendation of a trainer who's opinion I valued highly, I stopped giving him high value foods. The principle was that if he couldn't behave the right way he simply wouldn't get them. Now normally I can add a few bits and pieces to his food bowl and he's fine. Mind you, I haven't 'tried' him much lately, but then he's only had his dry food. I do recally that for quite a long time we did have him accepting touching and closeness will eating, and taking the food away - but always low value food, and I accepted that. Yesterday I put some left over diced bacon in his food - just a TINY bit! I fed him, and the other dog. I patted him on the bum as I walked past, as I always do (and he always was fine with that) and he started up again. I thought to myself that it wasn't acceptable, so I stood next to him. He carried on. I tried to take his food. He let me, and carried on. I gave it back when he quieted, he carried on again the minute he got it. No matter what I do, he seems to escalate. Then I noticed his body language - it was wierd. His head was down, his ears were back (that bit wasn't surprising) but he had to look up from me from his more crouched position, and he was 'braced' (again, not entirely unexpected). But his tail was the strangest - tucked tight into his backside and curling right underneath his body. He looked like he was in a fear position, but with teeth and growling. It surprised me. Tonight, I thought I'd go back to just normally dry food and a hand on the back. It escalated again! I took the food from him. He carried on. When he stopped, he got it back. But after the third or fourth time, I put it back down and this time he made growling noises he's never made. I wasn't prepared to push it further. This is the first time he's sounded like that. I've been told to persist, but I'm not sure its worth it if I'm escalating and making it worse, pushing him to bite. He was even eyeballing me!!! He has never not looked away before. This has escalated beyond my control, and for the life of me I can't find any material that helps me. To clarify, I do EVERYTHING else I can in the house to ensure my position in our 'pack' is clear. I'm well aware of the importance of being 'top dog'. Feeding hasn't been an issue for such a long time, but clearly something has happened somewhere to change things. I'm not sure what I'm missing??? He always works for his food, we work on NILIF, etc. Suggestions? I want to avoid paying for a behaviourist (sp?) if I can, but if not, so be it. I've put this to people with 20-30 years experience (more than one person) and so far I'm at a bit of a loss.

Thanks for all the responses! To answer some questions, he is a Rhodesian Ridgeback X Rottweiler. He is being fed Eukanuba puppy large breed, though the amount has been reduced at the vet's recommendation. He now gets 1 and 3/4 scoops morning and night, along with some Sashas Blend (well, at least he was, until the other dog decided Sashas blend smelled like crack for dogs and stole the container so he could lick it clean!). Must get some more! He's being isolated to the laundry during the day (its a bit larger than most, but is practical for cleaning), and gets a little bit of time to spend with my other dog in the evening before being put in his crate for the night. The vet has only mentioned one other condition she thought it would be but there wasn't a shortened version and I can't remember how to pronounce, let alone spell that one. I have a vet friend who said she'd have taken the same course of action with my pup which is good, but I hadn't heard any stories about other people's experience. He seems to be improving but then its hard to be certain. After his fourth injection next week I might ask for X-Rays if he limps again. The vet said it might be genetic, or just developmental in nature. I tend to agree, it would be nice to have X-Rays to confirm.

My 5 month old pup was recently "diagnosed" (I use the term loosely because there have been no confirming x-rays as yet) with OCD in his front left elbow joint. He's had 3 of his 4 Cartrofen injections, and seems to be doing ok. He's also having Sashas Blend added to his breakfast in the mornings. Does anybody here have experience with OCD in puppies? Was it diagnosed without x-rays and later confirmed? Did you undertake any physical therapy? Was surgery requried? I'd love to hear what other people have experienced.

Hi Everyone, Wanybody like to share with me what kind of behaviours and physical cues you would expect to see from a dog who is resource guarding? And do you know of any variations in behaviour and physical cues that can be misconstrued as resource guarding, or are there any "variations" (for lack of a better word) worth mentioning? I've done quite a lot of reading on this subject but I'm interested in your views.

I'm certainly not well versed in medicating dogs as a part of a training approach - but my gut feeling is that this is a no-go zone. The warning flags went up here. My first instinct would be to stay well away from this trainer - they don't sound experienced, flexible, or knowledgable. If medication is the first stop, thats a bit scary. Just my 2 cents worth