breezy

hi all, after much discussion we have decided not to keep him. though we are committed to training any dog we have, keeping him will mean a huge amount of ongoing stress and concern. We feel though his DA issues may be able to be managed by someone very experienced, they are far too out of control now for us to walk him or take him out to exercise safely, particularly myself, and that is not good for him or us, as we are active and enjoy the outdoors all the time. So we hope he will go to a home that will provide him with the training & environment he deserves. We dont feel his description matched his personality & the DA issue is a major one that will affect us everytime we take him out of the house. A walk we went on this week became a pretty frightening experience for us (and the other dog owners) & that was on the lead the whole time! thanks again for your responses

hi all thanks again for your advice. we took him to the obedience class on sunday only to turn up and find it doesn't start up till feb, which was a bit disappointing. As there was no one around we let him off for a good run and he ran straight into the water and had a good swim, and was well behaved and is starting to respond to his name and our voices, coming back when we called him. We are taking him out twice a day for walks, but practicing in the yard first so he is settled not bounding when we leave home. The times we have encountered other dogs (whilst on the lead) he has been OK, though pulls like mad to get over to them, which is understandable, he is still a pup. We saw a GR this morning and he was absolutely fine, no aggression. I still just dont know if it the desexing had anything to do with it still, seeing as his foster carer, rescuer and pound notes have all said he was ok with other dogs. We're just going to keep taking him out over the next few days and see what happens. He is still absolutely fine and gorgeous at home. thanks again

thanks poodle fan! I have just spoken to the Manly Kennel & Dog training club and we can attend this weekend so will likely do that and see how he goes. We definitely are going to take a softly softly approach with other dogs and will not assume he is going to be fine until we've had some professional advice and socialization training. The trainer lady and some other people have said because of his placid personality and obedience in the home he should be trainable when it comes to other dogs and the correct social behaviour, I truly hope they are right as we already love him & are bonding well. Thanks for the advice about the lead, the training lady also recommended buying their training lead for classes. I think you are right about controlling the greeting last night, there was less stimulation than the beach and he was already far more in control because of the halti. I know some people dont like these but so far it has been far more effective than the one around his leg, probably because of his massive strength when he pulls. I will make sure we get some advice on using it on the weekend too.

HI again everyone, Firstly, I can't thank you enough for your advice and replies, it's really helped me to read about other people's stories and experiences. A little update on Jasper, yesterday I bought a halti collar to go over his nose and a very (!) strong short chain lead. I spoke with his rescue lady regarding his behavior and she did confirm he was behavior tested at the pound, otherwise she never would have taken him on. He was (apparently) ok with dogs there at the pound and ok with his foster carers dog & cat also (sat there licking the cat apparently!!). I will however, contact his foster carer today to see if I can get a little more info on this and how "OK" he was. Whilst we are committed to training and if things work out will want to take him to further obedience classes, I totally agree that if he is aggressive with other dogs we will seriously reconsider after our 2 weeks with him. It is a risk we can't take and we want to be able to take him to parks off the lead (eventually) and our dog beach without concern! So last night we took him for a walk with his new collar and I was amazed, it worked almost immediately. In fact he hardly tried to get it off like we were told they usually do. He is good listening to us and our commands. We stopped and said "stop" loudly every time he pulled hard, and he seemed to pick it up. We rewarded him with treats and hugs when he walked well. On our walk we came across a group of about 5 labradors who we off leads. He immediately started pulling and getting excited and we pulled him back and said stop. Every time we say stop he stops and sits down, so he seems to get that now, and the strap on his nose seems to be far more effective than the one that went around his legs. After he stopped pulling we let him walk over to the other dogs, but stopped everytime he pulled hard. Their owners obviously knew each other and said oh let him play, so i walked over and explained we just got him and we arent sure yet how he is around other dogs. They said just let him sniff etc. Anyway he and the group of them started to sniff and play around (we kept him on the leash the whole time) and he seemed fine, he didnt bark or lunge or be aggressive at all, which was a relief. It's baby steps though and we will take him out every day to see if this is consistent behaviour or a one off! I would like to see how he is around all types of dogs. I wonder if our first outing to the dog beach (where he was aggressive) was all too much for a dog that is not used to other dogs around, nor us or his new environment? I took him out on my own this morning (after a practise in the backyard on the lead) and he was so much better. I had control of him the whole time, and the short chain lead gave me so much more control of him. He responded well to "stop" when he was pulling. We did see a couple of labs in the distance and he pulled again like mad, I made him stop and he did, he wanted to go and say hello but being on my own I didnt let him this morning. After making him stop for awhile and sit there I then pulled him off in the direction home (away from the dogs) and he reluctantly came, but was ok. So we will see how this progresses over the next few days. Our rescue lady has offered to come out next week and see how he is also/do some training, so we will take her up on that. If the aggression continues or comes up even occasionally we will make our decision. However, i am very glad we have got the walking under control in just one day, it gives me hope that we can train him and we are certainly willing to do this. He is just such a doll around the house, obeys everything and has this amazingly placid/easygoing personality, so it will be interesting to see how he goes with the dog issue. We also introduced him to the little kids next door and he was fine, sat there (on the lead) and let them come up and pat and didnt jump etc. I'll update again in the next day or two. I get the feeling he hasn't been walked much (if at all) & not socialized either. If we go past the 2 weeks and all is well, I will definitely consult a behaviorist as mentioned. We are in Sydney city. Thanks for your help again, I'm so appreciative.

Hello everyone, This is my first visit to the forums though I have been reading these forums in anticipation for a week weeks prior to getting our lovely new rescue dog, a Labrador cross (staffy? unknown) Jasper who is 12 - 18 months old. We picked him up four days ago for his 2 week trial with us. He has settled in with us over the past few days and shown a lovely temperament in the house, he is obedient, house trained, good with his food (no jumping, waits for us to put it down etc), settles in his bed at night, doesn't escape and has been great with any new people coming around. However, he is very problematic on the lead (very strong), he has snapped our first two leashes in two days! We are starting to try and train him on the leash, and I would really appreciate some advice on what collars are best for such a strong dog, i bought him the harness that pulls around his legs when he pulls, but it seems to have little to no effect, particularly when we get to our second major problem....other dogs. In his first walk with me (female) he pulled so hard he snapped the leash (i'm off to buy a very strong one now) when he saw another dog across the road. He ran over, jostled it a bit then immediately got aggressive, lunging and (I think) trying to bite. Luckily the lady pulled her dog away immediately and i tried to get him home with a broken leash. Later on we took him to a dog park and he got extremely out of control, we tried to let the other dogs come to him to see how he would go, but he was barking incessantly, pulling with all his might and trying to get to every dog he saw in every direction. He was very out of control and then snapped the (2nd!) lead and started running toward them all, leaving me panicking. He sniffed some of the little dogs but with the bigger ones he started to lunge and go for them again, initiating the aggressive behavior, I'm not sure if they were male but it seemed to be with particular dogs, particularly larger than him. We don't know his history, he was in the pound for 4 weeks and with a foster family for two, but immediately I am worried about his socialization with other dogs and what we can do here. He has also recently been desexed (last week before we adopted him) and I dont know if that is impacting his behaviour. His foster carer said he played ok but rough with their Dalmatian and has been to a dog park and been ok, but so far he is showing some very strong behavior and I am unable to hold him, my partner is currently having to control him, but only just managing. I would really appreciate some advice on how we go about training for the leash and with other dogs, we have both had smaller dogs before (jack russell and cavaliers) but this is our first rescue, and first dog this size. I am extremely worried about taking him out as I am fairly petite and struggle to keep a hold of him....and am very anxious about him fighting with someone else's dog... thanks in advance! bri