I Need Some Help Please

[kobieholly]

Hi Everyone,

I have just joined these forums and was after a bit of advice.

I have two dogs, a 4yr old Lab (Holly), and a 3yr old German Shepherd (Kobie) both females. We adopted the Lab when she was 1.

Okay, a bit of background info.....When we got the Lab she was very overweight, dominate and could be quite aggressive towards other animals. She was never walked and was teased by the kids in the previous family. Our German Shepherd was only 6mths old at the time and the Lab was dominate to her. From day dot they have been best friends. Although the Lab of course dominate. If left unsupervised, Holly will finsih her food and then dive straight into Kobie's bowl. Kobie will just let her and walk away. Its the same when i give them bones. Holly will always end up with two.

Three months after adopting Holly, we took both dogs to a trainer. They both sit, stay, drop and heel. A huge improvment for Holly.

So for the past 3 years my husband and i have lived out in the country on a large block. Most days i would walk the dogs for about an hour (on the days that i didn't, the yard was big enough the play fetch), but as it was in the country we would walk along a long straight road, and obviously not see much apart from sheep and cows, and the occasional dog, in a yard and sometimes off lead. Whenever we spotted a dog, Holly would start pulling, growling and barking, and all that we and her learnt in training would just not work. I guess in the end, we would drag her away and get on with our walk. Sometimes a dog would be walked past our house and both dogs would bark, but apart from me occasionally trying to distract them it only lasted a minute. Visits to the vet have always been a nightmare, and to get Holly inside without her spotting any other animal was a mission, but we did it.

14moths ago i had a baby, and really wanted to keep both dogs apart of our little family. At first Holly was very stand offish with the bub, but as the bub got older, crawling, walking ect she is pretty good with him. Fast forward to now.......3 months ago, my husband got a transfer and we now live in Goulburn NSW. We have a pretty decent size yard but nowhere near as big as the country. Too small to play fetch. Now when we walk the dogs, she pulls and pulls and ignores basic commands. She walks with her tail upright and chest out and appears to be on egde. She will attempt to fight other dogs that we see, we tend to change direction to avoid any incident. What used to be a pleasant walk is now just impossible. She is continually pulling to sniff and barks at cars driving past. I know the major thing is she is just not socialised to anything, but how do you do it when it seems she just wants to attack other dogs.

There is no dog park or any park for that matter that has dogs there. There are no clubs that i know of.

She is also becoming extremly desctuctive at home. Pulling washing off the line and shredding it (she hasn't done this for years). We still give them lots of attention everyday. She rips her bedding up and is overall being very dominate. She is even eating her own and Kobies poo. Actually as soon as Kobie is finished, Holly rushes over to eat it. Its really gross. I have taken her to the vet to be checked out and all is fine.

Although her whole life she has shown dominace and aggression, its getting worse and i just really need advice to help it stop. I would love to be able to take her for a stress free walk and around other dogs. I might add, when we take her back to my parents house, we have taken her to a dog beach and my husband let her off lead...AND...she was fine with all of the dogs, infact played happily...I know for a fact that if one of those dogs had of shown a little dominance towards her we might of had a dog fight on our hands.

Most of the time, she is a typical Lab...with a beautiful personality and very playful but all of the bad behaviour is out waying the good at the moment. I would love to keep her forever, but its really putting some strain on my marriage......Thanks for reading..i would love some advice, or anyone in Goulburn thats wants to meet up???

Thanks again and sorry for the essay long post.

[lappiemum]

Hi Kobieholly-

Sorry to hear about your troubles! But from what you have said, it sound very typical of a dominating and strongwilled dog. You can give all the obedience training in the world, but the real issues are upstairs - by the sound of it, your lovely lab thinks she is the top dog of your pack, and when outside its up to her to protect and defend and make decisions for the pack.

I would advise you to get in contact with a dog behaviourist - not a trainer, but someone who can educate you and others in your family about Holly's behaviour, and help you understand what she is thinking, why this leads to her actions and way you can overcome her negative behaviours. Depending on where you live, there are other DOLers on this site who can probably point you in the right direction.

It is likely that the latest round of undesirable behaviour is a result of the stress of the move to unfamilar territory adding to her underlying problems, not so much the space issue. As such, its important that you get a behaviourist out sooner rather than later.

The good news is that for the vast majority of such cases, you can overcome these problems. But you will need patience, understanding and the ability to be (at times!) more stubborn and strong willed than Holly. She's obviously a very loving, and very smart pooch, who takes her role as pack leader very seriously - but this isn't good for her, and it certainly isn't good for your family.

Edited May 12, 2009 by lappiemum

[Miranda]

Kobieholly you need the help of a qualified behaviorist/trainer. I would recommend K9 Force on this forum.

[sandgrubber]

I agree about consulting a behaviourist.

But as a first step, while trying to find a behaviourist, you might try the Triangle of Temptation as spelled out in the posts before the main part of this forum. It should help establish that YOU are boss. Given that your dominant bitch is strongly food oriented it may have a strong effect on her to have you take firm control of food.

[Miranda]

But as a first step, while trying to find a behaviourist, you might try the Triangle of Temptation as spelled out in the posts before the main part of this forum. It should help establish that YOU are boss. Given that your dominant bitch is strongly food oriented it may have a strong effect on her to have you take firm control of food.

Yes I didn't think of that sandgrubber that's an excellent idea. TOT is a highly effective training aid, I use it myself. A spot of NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) wouldn't go astray either.