Jack Russel Very Possesive (aggressive)

[Worm]

We have a 2.5 yr old female (de-sexed) JR. She is a great dog, very obedient off leash, fun to be with. Gets along great with kids and other people (most of them).....

But

Whenever she is on our lap, in our bedroom or on the bed she gets VERY aggressive to everyone else but me and my partner. She growls and barks. If we are asleep and anyone comes upto us she will literally bite them if they stick a hand out to touch us. If we wake up and see the same person that came into the room 1 minute later our JR will be fine and friendly as if nothing happened.

And when we let her out the front yard to play and have a sniff about she is fine with almost everyone walking past. But whenever a Indian/Middle eastern looking person walks past she gets very aggressive and barks at them and chases them.... and its only dark colored skin people. My Partner is Vietnamese and I am Australian so its not like we have trained her to be racist.

We came to the conclusion that when she was younger she would run upto people and some people get very nervous and scream/shriek/run which made her bark and now its a terrible habbit.

Any suggestions on how we may fix or at the very least soften this type of behavior?

Oh, she has 3 other dogs in the yard with her ALL day and goes for walks daily with one of the other dogs (they are Pomeranian and Chihuahuas) and gets along fine with all of them.

Its like there is a switch in her head, where she is the best dog in the world to this terrible creature and back again all in the space of one minute. Very bizarre.

Any tips appreciated

[Staranais]

Oops that is a problem. Good on you for looking for help now.

If you can, it would probably be a good idea to get a professional in to have a look at what your dog is doing & give you some tips on how best to fix it. If you let us know exactly where you are, probably someone here will have recommendations on someone you could see.

In the mean time, I'd not be letting her on my lap, in the bedroom, or on the bed, or anywhere else she displays the aggressive behaviour.

[megan_]

I'd suggest getting in a behaviourist ASAP. Where are you located?

In the interim, I suggest taking a good look at your leadership. If your dog truly sees you as a leader, this behaviour wouldn't happen.

Have a look at the "sticky" posts at the top of this forum, in particular "Nothing in Life is Free" (NILIF) and "Triangle of Temptation" (ToT). Start these today.

Set some boundaries (even if they aren't going to be your long term boundaries) and enforce them (not through screaming, physically etc, just be consistent). These boundaries will help re-inforce that you are the ones setting the rules. Some quick ones that are easy for the dog to understand:

i) No getting on your bed

ii) No more lap time (it will be hard for you, but if it gets rid of this problem, it will be in her best interest).

ETA: Just read that you have other dogs. It is important that you are a fair leader and all the rules (NILIF, ToT etc) apply equally to all of them too.

[Worm]

Thanks for the quick replies!

At the moment we have problems with leadership. Me and my partner are building our house so for now our JR is living at home with my partners parents. They have no control or discipline what so ever. She can basically do what she likes until I get home or my partner does. Then she turns to us for leadership and sort of like defends us from everyone else.

I wont get into all the things she gets away with but it ranges from being fed at dinner time when the people are getting fed, free run of the house, sleep inside (but not on bed). She does get away with lots, but not from her actual owners (me and my partner) but other people.... Now that im typing this out I can see where (some of, if not all of) the problems are coming from.

[poodlefan]

Whenever there is aggression involved you definitely need professional help. One thing I did want to comment on was this:

Then she turns to us for leadership and sort of like defends us from everyone else.

Its quite possible that she's defending you like a bone - that is she's resource guarding. As you are not a bone and not to be controlled by her you'll need some help to deal with this.

The simple answer to her being out the front and chasing people is KEEP HER ON LEAD. She's doing enough to have herself classified as a dangerous dog and that's a world of hurt you really don't want to visit.

[Worm]

I read the TOT sticky. Its very good. I will try it, although now is not a good time as me doing one thing and others doing things differently wont fix any problems. I just hope it doesn't get to bad before we move out in 6 months.

[persephone]

I just hope it doesn't get to bad before we move out in 6 months.

Ermmm. unless you address it NOW - and get the other family members to also work at it ... My guess is that things will be worse in another 6 months

[Paul Bright]

If you decide you don't like this behavior to remain with your dog forever, you must commit to stop it. Be stern and consistent. Every time she does it, shake a can w/coins/rocks or sprit-spray her with water - say "no" -- but you have to do it every time.

Good luck!

[Nekhbet]

Every time she does it, shake a can w/coins/rocks or sprit-spray her with water - say "no" -- but you have to do it every time.

thats it put more pressure on an already loaded dog - ever heard of the straw that broke the camels back? You NEVER do this for aggression cases - this dog has no issue with confrontation and you trying to intimidate it further will not work or end up with more people being bitten.

Dont give advice unless you plan to stand behind the consequences. I remember a 50kg bull arab doing the same thing, totally hands off method without resorting to no's and water etc fixed it.

[Erny]

Then she turns to us for leadership and sort of like defends us from everyone else.

If she thought you and your partner were leaders, she wouldn't feel the need to defend you.

I think yourselves and your folks need someone to come over and help you straighten out how your dog sees and perceives things as it strikes me there is a bit of a mix up here. Not uncommon, but does need to be ironed out so your dog can start to understand and begin to behave better.

[corvus]

If your dog truly sees you as a leader, this behaviour wouldn't happen.

That is, IMO, an overly bold assertion. For starters, who knows if a dog sees someone as a "leader" in the first place? Secondly, who knows what is actually at the root of the problem? Thirdly, I've seen dogs that defer to their owners on all things, but still resource guard them. We don't know if this behaviour is driven by a general sense of insecurity, a specific insecurity, or not an insecurity at all. Leadership may improve a general sense of security, but if one thing is causing an aggressive response, there's every chance that general leadership will do squat. The simuli that cause the response are still there, and the emotional state driving the response hasn't been addressed directly.

That's not to say general leadership doesn't have its benefits. It does plenty... in general.

[Steve K9Pro]

K9: the TOT isn't designed as a fix all, but it is a great start, it would be advisable to get some expert help here before matters get worse.

[shyfig]

Have a look at the "sticky" posts at the top of this forum, in particular "Nothing in Life is Free" (NILIF) and "Triangle of Temptation" (ToT). Start these today.

I feel a little silly but I can't seem to find these "Sticky" posts....can you point me in the right direction?

[pie]

Here is the TOT thread Shyfig

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=64101

When you go into the training section of the forum you should see sub forums, then the pinned topic, then the regular topics, the pinned topics never go down the page when people don't post in them, they stay at the top, hope this helps.