I Need Training

[vnv]

Willow is my first dog and I got her from the pound last November where I told she was approx 6months old. (She hasn't grown at all in the time I've had her though). I lived with my parents at that time and they had a pure bred GSD who was about 1yr old at that time. They played together, really roughly and Willow sometimes got little puncture marks on her skin (as I'm sure the GSD did too judging by the way she would bite him). Willow would sometimes get tired of playing and jump the fence to get away from the GSD. She sometimes went next door and slept on the neighbours couch. She never ran away though.

Once (in total ignornace) I took her to an off-leash park. There were no other dogs there, just two guys playing with a football and she was running around happily. I saw two people coming with one dog (black staffy) off leash and another dog on a leash. I moved away from them, however they came right up to us as they wanted the dogs to play. Willow played with the black staffy, wagging tails, bowing etc. Then when the people got right up to us Willow came over to sniff the other dog who was still on a leash. They were sniffing each other when suddenly without so much as a growl they were fighting. Willow had a hold of the other dogs leg and was shaking her so the male owner of that dog started stomping hard on the back of Willows neck. One of the guys playing football ran up and grabbed Willow off the other dog and she showed no other signs of aggression (she didn't show any signs of aggression before either, she didn't make a sound the whole time).

Since then I have been terrified of a repeat performance. I took her to obedience 3 times where she became very over excited and whimpered, whinged, pulled and wouldn't pay any attention to me at all. The third and last time we went there, one of the volunteers went out of her way to repeatedly tell me and my OH that she was basically a rotten dog and we should get private training I stopped going after that (in retrospect I probably should have ignored that woman).

So now I don't know what to do. Willow learns quickly at home and I have kept training her basics. But what about socialisation? My OH has a friend that lives nearby who has two dogs - both have attacked other dogs in the past. Besides my parents GSD and my sisters two SWF's these are the only other dogs we know. On walks Willow either completley ignores other dogs, or becomes totally unmanagable, lunging at the end of her leash (even if we just hear some dogs and can't see them). I don't know if this is aggression or she just wants to play. But then she will walk past a fence with three little yapping dogs behind it without batting an eyelid.

I would love some advice of what to do and I am completly open to some (constructive) personal critisism as I know I have made some mistakes along the way. I'm just not sure of what to do from here. One member here has kindly recommended a private trainer which I am looking into however I don't know if that will help with the above problem.

Edited April 29, 2008 by Lead and Feather

[Cala]

I would love some advice of what to do and I am completly open to some (constructive) personal critisism as I know I have made some mistakes along the way. I'm just not sure of what to do from here. One member here has kindly recommended a private trainer which I am looking into however I don't know if that will help with the above problem.

A private trainer in a one on one situation is what you need, to get the problem sorted, and then perhaps you will be able to get her under control so that you can begin socialising her (maybe just one on one with another dog to begin with) hopefully you will get enough control over her so that you can come back to an obedience class.

DO NOT leave the problem for any longer, something needs to be done NOW, for both you and the dog.

All the very best,

Sue

[Cosmolo]

Engage the services of a qualified trainer- a good one will be able to help with your fears as well as the dogs issues

[dee lee]

Lead and Feather, your situation is very like mine.

At this point (my dog is just over one) I have accepted that I will in all probability have to walk my dog on leash all her life as I cannot control her behaviour offleash and specifically cant trust her not to be aggressive with another dog. She gets to say hello to the occasional dog whilst walking but thats it for socialisation.

She gets an hour walk a day, lots of human company and interaction, she gets to sleep inside- I figure her life isnt that bad, considering the alternative is risking her attacking a dog and being put to sleep.

Having said that, I get massive pangs of envy when I pass an offleash park, but thats my problem.

[~*Shell*~]

I would suggest to everyone having this problem to consult a behaviourist - in Sydney I've been told to see K9-Force (they have a very long waiting list - i booked 4 weeks ago and i'm not booked in till July!) though i'm sure there are other fantastic behaviourists around! With pound dogs in particular it's very difficult to discover their past and therefore the reason behind their problems but they can be fixed with training and patience. The behaviourist may be able to tell you what is causing your dog to act this way and therefore you can get to the root of the problem easier. They will also work with you so that the behaviour can be discouraged when you're at home or on a walk.

To train my dog to be able to go into the dog park we took him to the fince and allowed him to sniff and be sniffed while both my dog and others were safe. We were ready with corrections for any bad behaviour (like growling and jumping on the fence) and with praise when he was calm or when he voluntarily lay down. When i was certain he was fine to go in, we let him but it was on a leash and any time i didn't feel like i could predict what he was going to do we would go back outside. After a few weeks of this, we told the other people in the park that it was his first-time off leash and to please watch their dogs around him, and let him off leash, being careful that we were never out of arm's reach. A few weeks of this and Zero now doesn't have a problem. He even knows he's not allowed to even look as though he will be agressive - unfortunately, this has meant that he's suffered a couple of bites (including one to the side of his face on the weekend ) as he is very big and often frightens other dogs. (Note: I did this training myself, not with a behaviourist so it might only work with Zero)

If you really want to stop the lunging while i walks, i would recommend some training tools like a halti, or prong collar (illegal in victoria!), but get a professional to teach you how to use them first as they can cause neck injuries (like nearly all training tools if used incorrectly)

Sorry this post is so long and i hope it helps! Good luck with it!