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Challenging, Aggression, Fear?


Red Fox
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Thanks for the info K9. I checked out the website and am seriously considering some distance training. I will try and use the triangle of temptation program too, I do a similar thing now by having Kei sit and wait for his food, he is not allowed to have it until he looks at me instead of the bowl. However I will change to your technique instead and see what the impact is.

K9: Most people have some feeding regime, but what it can look like from the dogs point of view is your dominating the dog by raising & lower food with you between the dog & the temptation (food).

The TOT allows the dog to experiment through various behaviours until it looks to the Alpha for guidance. This makes you part of the solution not part of the problem & also communicates to the dog that self control & asking the Pack Leader what to do is better than pulling on the leash.

Just reading up on your leashes now too. I think this could be a good investment for us as I would not want for Kei to break his leash during a tantrum.

I will PM you soon for some info on the distance program :mad

K9: send me an email & I will send you back my phone number, I will give you some tips on what to do with your dog for now.

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Thanks Huski, you have me convinced.. now I just have to talk hubby into letting me buy *another* thing for the dog :D

Did you get the standard or the premium??

I have both, two premium ones and a standard. They are both nice and soft, the standard one takes a bit longer to break in but softens up after a couple of walks :)

Tell your hubby that once you buy a good quality leather leash you will never need to buy another leash again!! Unless you get another dog like we did and want two :)

Edited by huski
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Our German shepherd use to chuck tantrums and really tried to dominate me (not my husband) and this went on for months...especially around 5-10 months... and it drove me mental...

While she was very strong showing my teeth made it worse and she would growl and bark at me (NEVER bit me). she would get sin binned so she learnt it wasnt on... by walking away when he growls he learns aggression will make you go away, his desired behaviour...not what you want...

As for eating, we also make Zoe eat after us, and always make her work for her meal... we add food to bowl and sometimes take it away to discourage posessiveness over food and she couldnt care now if we took food from her, she just sits quietly and waits for her meal.... never begs or makes a sound... it is a delight.. we can even feed the cat chicken in front of her and she will watch quietly.

We have a good strong leather lead too, it makes the world of difference....

Need to nip this in the bud now before it becomes a big 40kg+ problem.. good luck! maybe a behaviouralist? We followed NILIFprogram and god knows we had a few home sessions before Zoe hit 12 months and they were worth every cent... :)

Edited by charli73
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While she was very strong showing my teeth made it worse and she would growl and bark at me (NEVER bit me). she would get sin binned so she learnt it wasnt on... by walking away when he growls he learns aggression will make you go away, his desired behaviour...not what you want...

I agree - I wouldn't walk away but I also wouldn't directly confront a dominant dog, I tried that with my bitch and she took me up on the challenge and it made her behaviour get a lot worse. I had to look at non-confrontational ways to handle her and instead of forcing her to obey me, make her want to obey me. There is so much info out there that tells you to growl back and I think that can be quite dangerous!

As for eating, we also make Zoe eat after us, and always make her work for her meal... we add food to bowl and sometimes take it away to discourage posessiveness over food and she couldnt care now if we took food from her, she just sits quietly and waits for her meal.... never begs or makes a sound... it is a delight.. we can even feed the cat chicken in front of her and she will watch quietly.

You will find that there aren't too many behaviourists who encourage this anymore, as it can do the opposite and teach the dog to be possessive because every time a person walks by they are going to tamper with or take away his food. I know you said you didn't do it all the time, but I generally find the triangle of temptation a much safer way to discourage possessiveness when it comes to food.

Edited by huski
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Quick update:

I reluctantly took Kei to his 3rd obedience class last night and gave hubby strict instructions to video any bad behaviour (pulling on the lead/tantrums) so that I could send it off to K9 for an assesment and get him on a new training program.

Well.. by some miracle the little bugger decided that this week he would behave! Heeled well throughout the whole hour, only pulled when he got too close to the dog in front, and even then I was able to correct him without a struggle. I even got him to do his stands on command and a perfect sit stay!

Not sure whether the boiled roo sausage bits I brought for training treats had anyhing to do with it though... :thumbsup:

Here what I think made a difference this week:

The instructor made the circle much bigger this week so all the dogs had more space. (I think this made a big difference for ALL the dogs)

I made sure that Kei was able to socialise with all of the dogs in his group *before* training started.

(oh, and I didn't get hassled about him not wearing the halti this week either :thumbsup:)

So here's the plan-

-Get a new good quality lead ASAP (we're gonna get the premium leather one from K9 :thumbsup: )

-Keep up the training, ignore any tantrums (I very much hope that the other nights episode was a one off)

-Start using the triangle of temptation program

-If the tantrums continue and/or he doesn't keep up his improvements at obedience we will pull him out of the club for a few weeks and get him on the K9 Force Loose Leash Walking Program.

:thumbsup:

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actually we sold her,she was 5 mths old,and the biting was getting worse,nothing the vet said helped,and i didnt want a stoned dog,she was pretty much jelouse of *us* the parents,she now lives up the road,is a outside dog and is happy.

So YES i got rid of her because she bit,a child Vs a dog,the child wins every time

We had to sell our ROTTI pup,she went all aggro on us,looked mean when we went off at our son !

When she bit 1 time to many (hard) she was out of here (kids and all)

We took VETs advice on her( 1 was to drug her-we didnt do that) desex her ect0ring vet) ,but 1 thing we have since learnt,she slept on our bed,bringing her UP to our leval,Leigh now sleep on the floor.

I hope ur problem is solved

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actually we sold her,she was 5 mths old,and the biting was getting worse,nothing the vet said helped,and i didnt want a stoned dog,she was pretty much jelouse of *us* the parents,she now lives up the road,is a outside dog and is happy.

So YES i got rid of her because she bit,a child Vs a dog,the child wins every time

IMO dogs don't get jealous :cheer:

Your vet should have suggested you see a qualified behaviourist, this was probably something that could have been resolved with the right training.

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actually we sold her,she was 5 mths old,and the biting was getting worse,nothing the vet said helped,and i didnt want a stoned dog,she was pretty much jelouse of *us* the parents,she now lives up the road,is a outside dog and is happy.

So YES i got rid of her because she bit,a child Vs a dog,the child wins every time

IMO dogs don't get jealous :o

Your vet should have suggested you see a qualified behaviourist, this was probably something that could have been resolved with the right training.

Agreed, a behaviourist could have more than likely solved the problem but IMO it's NORMAL for puppies to bite and it's our job to teach them bite inhabition from the moment they come home.

On a brighter note my BRAND NEW LEATHER LEAD just arrived :laugh: cant wait to try it out on our next walk :laugh:

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