My dog has issues ... advice needed

babystrawberry

Hi,

We rehomed a dog from the Cork dog pound back in May. She was quite shy when we got her but she has since really come out of herself and is very affectionate with us.

Recently however she has displayed behaviour that has worried me.

1. PULLING!!!!!!!! For a small medium sized dog she had unbelievable strength. She will insist on pulling while walking her. This is worse if my other dog edges in front. This I know is obviously a dominance thing but she will also pull if she is in front! And its not always the pulling to the front, she does what i call 'sideways pulling', trying to get in at the ditch

2. Aggression towards other dogs. She is extremely 'vocal' when passing other dogs. She pulls so much that I am worried some day that the collar will just go on her ...... Have decided I will have to muzzle her when out walking as I couldnt trust her if she did get away on me.

3. Should anything like a van or larger or a very loud sounding car engine pass us while walking she will make a dart to run out at it barking etc.

This I could deal with if I was just walking her on her own but I am always walking our other dog so it can be difficult trying to get her back on track walking when she is insistent on trying to catch the tractor/motorbike!

4. She has recently started trying to run at and bark at people cycling bikes aswell

5. This may sound silly but when Im walking up/down the stairs she will hollow my heels and bite/nip my toes/heels. She doesnt so this to my boyfriend at all?? Its like a game with her though, she prances along with waggy tail and enjoys it, it isnt aggresive biting at all.


I was wondering is there any advice out there for any of the traits I have listed above, help greatly appreciated.
I was thinking of going to a dog obedience class with her also but in the meantime if there was any tips people might have it would be great

shinikins

Obedience classes are probably your best bet for her behavioural problems. Have you tried a harness rather than a lead? Chest harness's can work well with dogs that pull, or a head harness, but you may not want to try that until she's a little calmer on the lead.
you didn't mention what breed/cross breed she is, if she's a working breed ie; sheepdog, gundog, etc they can be more vocal and try to chase. Again the obedience classes will help. You might find that your more affectionate towards the daog than your boyfriend, or that he treats her more authoratively on a day to day basis, maybe take a step back and look at how you and he behave around her to see where you could make changes. Dog training is about training yourself too!!

sophie1234

wow reading your description there is the exact same description as my boyfriends dog! from the dspca! he went to training and it helped a lot!! but still is very aggressive sounding towards other dogs when on the lead! other owners are fearful of him even though he would never harm a fly! he's only a medium size dog and so friendly but its just what he does on the lead because in the dog park off the lead he is as happy as anything and would never growl or go for another dog its just an on lead thing!
the training helped a lot but he still struggles with the on lead issue?

what was the history of your rescue dog?

markc1184

My rescued dog has these same tendencies bar being aggressive, for a large breed dog (Boxer/Rottweiller cross) he is extremely affectionate towards anyone that shows an interest. But when out walking, the pulling and almost strangling himself and weazing is a real killer. Because he is about 18 months now is it too late to get him into obedience classes?

Sorry for butting in on your thread, but no point starting another thread for a similar problem.

peasant

These "issues" have nothing to do with the dog being a rescue, only with a certain training deficit.

Good training classes will help you to get it sorted, one by one.

LisaO

markc1184 wrote: »

My rescued dog has these same tendencies bar being aggressive, for a large breed dog (Boxer/Rottweiller cross) he is extremely affectionate towards anyone that shows an interest. But when out walking, the pulling and almost strangling himself and weazing is a real killer. Because he is about 18 months now is it too late to get him into obedience classes?

Sorry for butting in on your thread, but no point starting another thread for a similar problem.

It's never too late! Recently did some "remedial" training with our 5 year old dog & works wonders

babystrawberry

peasant wrote: »

These "issues" have nothing to do with the dog being a rescue, only with a certain training deficit.

Good training classes will help you to get it sorted, one by one.

Thanks for the advice, 'issues' was a tongue in cheek comment on my part tbh

babystrawberry

shinikins wrote: »

Obedience classes are probably your best bet for her behavioural problems. Have you tried a harness rather than a lead? Chest harness's can work well with dogs that pull, or a head harness, but you may not want to try that until she's a little calmer on the lead.
you didn't mention what breed/cross breed she is, if she's a working breed ie; sheepdog, gundog, etc they can be more vocal and try to chase. Again the obedience classes will help. You might find that your more affectionate towards the daog than your boyfriend, or that he treats her more authoratively on a day to day basis, maybe take a step back and look at how you and he behave around her to see where you could make changes. Dog training is about training yourself too!!

Hiya, usually I can tell teh mix that would be in a dog but when it comes to her she is a pure 'Heinz 57'
I definitely feel think there is part Staffie in her due to shape of head and chest and legs, part Patterdale terrier due to her coat and appearance and part collie due to the way she behaves when playing with our other dog ....a lot of chasing and herding type actions!!!

The background I got with her was that she belonged to a fella who never went out (apparently had agraphobia) and he handed her in as he felt she wasnt being socialised and wasnt fair to have her cooped up all the time ...altjhough when I went to sign for her to take her away her history stated that she was a stray??!!

I would be putting about 1.5years on her for age

I realise that is both myself and herself that are lacking on the training!!!! But what I was wondering is if there was advice people may have if they ahve experienced this in their own dogs and how they may have overcame it?

Graces7

Rescue dogs seem to get "worse" as they gain confidence, and yes, the lack of training comes to the fore.

We have this with the 9 year old collie. Trying to exert dominance over the wee dog aggressively is an ongoing problem.

A deterrent is vital... a water spray bottle is great as she hates it. Even more so now the word" WHISKEY!"

We have given her this in a syringe when the thunderphobia was so bad; it works, but she hates it and will stop any behaviour at the word WHISKEY. And go to bed and lie down.
Then she "apologises:" with her paw out..

( We have some valium now for thunder times)

We rarely need to give her any now. It has given us the means to get her to behave as she is needed to. And slowly this is transferring to an easier and nore "genuine" obedience for its own sake.

We also whistle trained her re her bad recall and she is improving there too.

riddleyscott

Hi,

We have just re-homed a Pomeranian, very cute dog he has been with us two months now and I am starting to get worried about his behavior around the house.
He attacks toilets when you pull down the lid the same when you go to the rubbish bins.
He has biten my wife when she went to open the window in our kitchen, he has biten me when I was at the dishwasher and I moved him away, anybody who walks past the house he barks at, when he is out for a walk anybody who comes to talk to us he is barking at them quite aggressively.
When my kids friends come to the door he gets very aggressive and when we have vistors he barks at them and if they get up out of there chair he is growling at them.
When I get up out of my seat in the evening time he growles at me and tries to bite my ankels,
I have two young kids and I am starting to think about bring him back to the pound as I am afraid of him around the kids or any body coming into the house.

andreac

riddleyscott wrote: »

Hi,

We have just re-homed a Pomeranian, very cute dog he has been with us two months now and I am starting to get worried about his behavior around the house.
He attacks toilets when you pull down the lid the same when you go to the rubbish bins.
He has biten my wife when she went to open the window in our kitchen, he has biten me when I was at the dishwasher and I moved him away, anybody who walks past the house he barks at, when he is out for a walk anybody who comes to talk to us he is barking at them quite aggressively.
When my kids friends come to the door he gets very aggressive and when we have vistors he barks at them and if they get up out of there chair he is growling at them.
When I get up out of my seat in the evening time he growles at me and tries to bite my ankels,
I have two young kids and I am starting to think about bring him back to the pound as I am afraid of him around the kids or any body coming into the house.

Hvae you done any training with him or brought him to a behaviourist or got professional advice from someone?
How old is the dog and whats his history? You need to work in the problems with an expert before considering anything. All dogs need training and guidance and to be corrected for their mistakes so please get some help with this dog.

cocker5

babystrawberry wrote: »

Hi,

We rehomed a dog from the Cork dog pound back in May. She was quite shy when we got her but she has since really come out of herself and is very affectionate with us.

Recently however she has displayed behaviour that has worried me.

1. PULLING!!!!!!!! For a small medium sized dog she had unbelievable strength. She will insist on pulling while walking her. This is worse if my other dog edges in front. This I know is obviously a dominance thing but she will also pull if she is in front! And its not always the pulling to the front, she does what i call 'sideways pulling', trying to get in at the ditch

2. Aggression towards other dogs. She is extremely 'vocal' when passing other dogs. She pulls so much that I am worried some day that the collar will just go on her ...... Have decided I will have to muzzle her when out walking as I couldnt trust her if she did get away on me.

3. Should anything like a van or larger or a very loud sounding car engine pass us while walking she will make a dart to run out at it barking etc.

This I could deal with if I was just walking her on her own but I am always walking our other dog so it can be difficult trying to get her back on track walking when she is insistent on trying to catch the tractor/motorbike!

4. She has recently started trying to run at and bark at people cycling bikes aswell

5. This may sound silly but when Im walking up/down the stairs she will hollow my heels and bite/nip my toes/heels. She doesnt so this to my boyfriend at all?? Its like a game with her though, she prances along with waggy tail and enjoys it, it isnt aggresive biting at all.


I was wondering is there any advice out there for any of the traits I have listed above, help greatly appreciated.
I was thinking of going to a dog obedience class with her also but in the meantime if there was any tips people might have it would be great

what type of dog is she??

Collies nip at heels as the are rounding you up... much like the would do with sheep etc...

Theres one thing i can def help you with... the pulling...
get one of these:

http://www.dogmatic.org.uk/contents/en-uk/d28.html

Got one for my cocker 4 years ago... he is a terrible puller and its sorted him out!

pH

Obedience classes may be necessary, but correcting a pulling dog is not normally too bad IF YOU WANT TO. I think you should want to, as having a relaxed walk where the dog is under an owner's full control is a great foundation for correcting all other problems.

There are a number of steps you could try.

A/ Walk the dog stress free, when you have time - this is going to take some time, you may look like a prat in public, don't do it if you "need to get the dog walked cos you're going out in 30 mins"

B/ Consistency - once you start keep at it - don't let someone else walk them if they're not following the same steps.

OK -

Most say start with treats - find some food that your dog likes and you can handle easily - cut back their main feeds and make room for this training food in their diet.

For example try something like this site :
http://www.ehow.com/how_66_train-dog-heeltrain-dog-heel.html

Start in a quiet place - don't try to do this in the local park surrounded by other dogs.

Other techniques

When it pulls stand still and don't give an inch, wait for the *dog* to relax the lead, then give it praise and command to walk on again - this will take time and patience - and will have you standing still in the park for a minute at a time - but will work.

Another technique is to use a long lead (6-8 ft) held very loosely at "normal" lead length, with a loop of spare lead hanging down, and the real end secured around your wrist. As soon as the dog pulls the lead from your loose grip, grip the rest of the lead firmly, turn around and walk the other way, as soon as the dog catches up, praise and keep walking.

Anything which teaches the dog to pay attention to you is good. Stop randomly, ask them to sit, praise and walk on. Turn around suddenly, weave a bit - eventually the dog gets the message that *you're* bringing *them* for a walk - not the other way round

Shazanne

I have two young kids and I am starting to think about bring him back to the pound as I am afraid of him around the kids or any body coming into the house.[/QUOTE]

Please, whatever you do, don't bring the dog back to the pound! If you feel you cant cope with the dog or are not inclined towards training classes or whatever, then bring him to a rescue centre. Give him the chance to find another owner who maybe does not have children or is prepared to go the training route. The pound will give him a few short days before they put him to sleep and the poor little guy does not deserve that.

wotzgoingon

Graces7 wrote: »

( We have some valium now for thunder times)

.

U shouldnt even own a dog. given a dog valium for fúck sake.
how would u like it if some1 was forcing valium onto u.

Does it make u feel big asserting dominance on the dog.

babystrawberry

cocker5 wrote: »

what type of dog is she??

Collies nip at heels as the are rounding you up... much like the would do with sheep etc...

Theres one thing i can def help you with... the pulling...
get one of these:

http://www.dogmatic.org.uk/contents/en-uk/d28.html

Got one for my cocker 4 years ago... he is a terrible puller and its sorted him out!

Thanks for this website. Will definitley be ordering form them tomorrow, just want to give them a call first as want to amke sure get correct size. Thanks again

babystrawberry

babystrawberry wrote: »

Thanks for this website. Will definitley be ordering form them tomorrow, just want to give them a call first as want to amke sure get correct size. Thanks again

Btw, thinking there is a bit of collie in her along with some terrier and whole lot of other breeds ..pure Heinz 57