Need Urgent Help

[aussielover]

She is a very cute dog :rolleyes:

[fuzzy_dragonfly]

Yes, I'm from deerbush. I agree that some of the advice is conflicting.

There's no way Sui can understand what I'm saying when some of the training techniques are inconsistent. Some are great trainers but need to work on people skills.

I'll ring around this week to get quotes from k9 pro and other places I've been recommended. I might need to save up a bit for the program that's right for us. I can't just pluck $600 from the air but I can budget for what I need.

[corvus]

Frustration and arousal may both lead to aggression. Doesn't make the dog aggressive, it just means they may behave aggressively. Any dog can behave aggressively in the right circumstances. It's just a matter of how frequent "the right circumstances" are for your dog.

A good place to start with the over-excitement while you're deciding who to see about it is Karen Overall's Protocol for Relaxation: http://dogscouts.org/Protocol_for_relaxation.html Also, make sure she is getting plenty of exercise. Also, self control games may help like this "Chill Out" game: http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/LoweringArousal.pdf

Leslie McDevitt likes to do the protocol for relaxation on a particular mat and pair it with a cue, like "settle". That way you give yourself a couple of helping hands if you need them in the form of cues the dog associates with a calm state.

[sas]

I believe you need to contact a Behaviourist as your next step, Obedience Trainers aren't typically well versed in Behaviour especially aggression.

I have sent you an message with the contact details of who I use for Dogs who have aggression issues.

From memory it's $110 for the first session and they come to you and then $80 per session there after. He does do a boot camp at his home where the dog stays for 2 weeks however that is around $600.00.

Edited July 19, 2010 by sas

[fuzzy_dragonfly]

Cheers,

From a finantial perspective I'd love to try playing training games to help settle her at home. I tried training her using books and puppy training DVDs, all with very good advice but you struggle if you don't have someone there to help you.

There are various other games I've tried from here in the past, I've had little sucess after trialing them for 2 weeks.

Yes it probably is a situation where aggression was triggered, she's not typically aggressive, protective or fearful. She's the type of dog that would be more likely to bowl you over and lick your face off.

Still I'd rather play it safe and not make excuses for what happened.

A dog only needs to attack or kill a small animal once to be labeled a dangerous dog.

Think of how bad the situation might have been if nobody was there to seperate the two!

I've got a few suggestions now, I'm going to try ringing around.

Thanks for the help

[buggerme]

Absolutely seek professional help - it is amazing what a good trainer can help you do.

I also recommend Steve from K9 Pro

http://www.k9pro.com.au/index.php

I wish I had seen a professional trainer as soon as my dog had started showing aggression. I had some bad advice to wait it out and keep socialising him with other dogs and that just made it worse - you are doing the right thing by seeking help now before the problem gets more out of hand.

Dog aggression is a very common problem and if you get good help it's amazing the turnaround you can have with the right support and guidance.

I second this advice.. dont beat yourself up over it - what is done is done... but Im certain K9 Pro can help you

[MerryMegan]

I did have a similar situation with my Staffy Matilda when she was 1yr old. I work in a pet supply store (where dogs visit all the time for their hydrobaths) when one day she was meeting another Staffy and got bit on the lip! 3 weeks later Matilda escapes the office and runs up to a family with 2 dogs instore, sniffs around and then bites THEIR little dog on the lip! I was totally mortified and payed for the woman to take her dog to the local vet, while going over and over what happened in my head.

It seems that when the small dog went submissive and turned away from Matilda she bit her, which is exactly what happened when Matilda went submissive to the Staffy that bit her. It seems like she got a little confused about appropriate reactions and greetings, we now always keep her on lead around unknown dogs and use a correction collar when she is at other people's homes who have dogs.

I would love to be able to take her to a dog park and let her run free, but unfortunatly I will never trust her or the other dogs there enough for that

[tianakaesha]

*waves* Hey K

Sorry to hear you are having issues. You've been given great advice here...

[Parkeyre]

Just wanted to check in and see how you are doing.

Hope you're not beating yourself up about it.

She's a cutie.

Thinking of ya both.

[dandybrush]

something you can work on at home or in any situation when you see your dog getting overly excited (as others have said high excitement leads to aggression) kneel down put your dog between your knees in a sit facing the same way as you and clasp your fingers over her chest, and just hold her till she calms down, when you can tilt her chin up without much pressure she is calm. and then release her, soon as she gets overly excited again repeat. from what i have been taught (correct me if im wrong) but dogs do not know how to self settle this is what i did to teach my boy to settle and even now in the dog park (which i vist occassionally but not always) i will pull him aside and wait for him to calm down then release him again (he is quite calm now compared to the other nutcases in the dog park)

you have a beautifull looking girl and like others have said it could have been the body language of the other dog that actually started the whole shemozzle good luck

[fuzzy_dragonfly]

*waves* Hey K

Sorry to hear you are having issues. You've been given great advice here...

Hey there * waves*

the joys of pet ownership hey!

I've rung around, you need to e-mail k9pro!

I spoke to a lovely lady from doglogic it sounds like the right kind of program for me and bonus... She owns a staffy too!

I'll let you know how it goes.

They're implimenring behaviour modifIcation. Wouldn't it be nice to have a dog that doesn't go red in the face from excitement!

Excuse the spelling I'm on my iPod.'

[fuzzy_dragonfly]

Hi there,

Just thought I'd give you an update on what's happened.

I contacted Trudi and Julie of dog logic and just had a session with them.

They brought along a setter and a sheltie to assess the extent of dog aggression.

The good news:

Basically there is none , she is not dog aggressive at all. Really good news, I didn't want to make that call before getting a second opinion. I have a staffy, not the kind of dog you want to underestimate, they're very strong dogs....their farts are strong too.

They taught me some alternative methods in trying to modify her behaviour because she is a hyperactive dog.

The source of her issues is with her hyperactivity, she likely frightened the other dog being over the top and it reacted which is turn made Sui react.

Basically if I'm ever in a similar situation in the future the idea will be I can recall her.

Within the one session I had her recalling from the other dogs even when she was in hyper-I-want-to-play mode....on lead of course.

She's a quick learner .

We also worked on methods of to correcting her jumping up on people.

Yeah, so basically we will be practising our recalls as well as learning not to jump up on people and it should help with any luck.

It was a bit hard to do one activity where the idea was that she was supposed walk a bit ahead of me to recall her, it didn't really work that well because she heeled .

I'm sure there'll be opportunities to practise that when she's hyped up again. By then she'd gone into working mode and she's a completely different dog when she's working.

Don't know if our stand for exam is going to get any better, but it should help if she knows not to jump up on people.

Cheers for the help guys