Dog becoming very territorial, and barking agressively

yungwan

We adopted a 2 year old terrier cross (we dont know the cross, hes small and wirey) about 6 months ago and he has become a very big part of our family, for all of us.

When we got him first he was very nervous and anxious, particularly of my partner (if he was swepping the floor he cowered, like he had been hit with a brush in the past. He never displayed this fear around me however, suggesting to me it was a male who was cruel to him in the past)

Eventually after much coaxing and gaining his trust with affection etc, he has gradually become very happy and friendly to everyone, in particular female guests.

However in the last three months or so he has become gradually more and more territorial and barks at people he does not like. This barking is not simply isolated to when a stranger comes to our door, but also when someone comes to our neighbours, or walks through our estate, in particular men. It isnt just barking though, he gets very vicious, and although he hasnt ever bit anyone, I am afraid it is only a matter of time before it does.

THe dog is kept in our medium sized garden while we are at work, apart from when my partner comes home for lunch. We know this isnt an ideal set up, but he is well looked after and is happy. We let him out supervised when we are there in the evenings etc, I bring him for walks in the evening, and our son brings him for a stroll around the estate each morning before we go.

However yesterday afternoon, the dog was left out by my partner from 2pm until 5.30, and during this time him and two other dogs got very territorial and barked viciously at a passerby outside our house. They had to be restrained and my dog had to be put in by my a neighbour to calm him. This doesnt seem like normal behaviour to me and I am worried that something in his past is manifesting in him that will get worse.

Now I understand us working and having a dog isnt ideal, so I would therefore kindly ask that people do not critisise this. Lots of people have dogs in a similar situation so I dont think it worst thing ever. He is well looked after and loved as part of our family, and has a much better life than he would have had on the street. My boyfriend has realised the error of his ways letting him out (as I am meticulous about making sure he locked in when we are away, even for 5 minutes and despite constantly telling him do the same, he never listened)

Does anyone know how we can stop this behaviour when we are there? He has been neutered which I thought would settle this instinct. If he barks at all when we are there we go out straight away and tell him to stop, and he comes in or goes out the back "sulking", so he knows it is wrong. I am just afraid it wont stop and it will become a bigger problem. I want him to be able to sit outside with us or my son when we are home and not have to worry about him barking and running at anyone who comes near the house.

In general he is a very loving and good natured dog, so this behaviour seems out of place to us.


Advice appreciated.

VERYinterested

Sorry OP I don't have any advice for you, but your title reminded me of an old joke:

Did you hear about the agnostic, dyslexic insomniac? He stayed awake all night wondering if there was a dog!

Mr Benevolent

If God is barking at you, you've got a big problem. Have you started any wars lately?

Serious answer: The dog may feel threatened by something, and besides that he's lonely and probably feeling out of sorts. Terriers are very territorial.

niallb

Oh, that title cheered me up :-)

I think you're on the right track with making sure he's in when you're not able to control him directly. That's your first responsibility.
I'm interested however in the mention of him 'and two other dogs' behaving territorially together. If they have a pack territory, that's what he's defending, and that could lead to him barking about people passing by the neighbours house. Where do these other two dogs live?

You need the dog to be part of your family pack, and not a random selection of dogs outside. If a pack threatens a person it's the little terrier that's most likely to give them a nip - maybe because they're often brave little things. Have you any idea what those other two dogs are like when your one isn't around? Are they out all the time?

I was out for a walk with my father 25 years ago, and down by a river in front of some houses, we were surrounded by a pack of local dogs, about 8 of them.
We kept walking, and eventually they dropped behind. It was only when we got home that I realised my dad had been bitten in the back of the leg. He didn't bat an eyelid at the time, but it was the littlest dog that gave the first bite.

Maybe these other dogs are 'bad company' for your little fellow,
and it could easily be keeping him in touch with responses from his past.

**Vai**

Could be he needs to be socialised with other dogs and people? Does he bark at people/dogs on walks?

yungwan

Haha I know the title is ridiculous! I proof read the whole post, but missed the title, which ironically I cant change now!!

Anyway, thanks for the advice guys.

I am so worried about this as I do not want to get rid of the dog, I think I will be worse than my son about it

Yes we are going to keep him in at all time when not there, and my boyf finally understands the importance of it.

I cant blame the other dogs, I know it would probably have been my dog initiating it, as he does it when there is no other dogs around too. The other two dogs live in our estate also, and are both bitches. They do be out from time to time, but not always, and tbh they all play together. I would say my dog set them all off though.

Obviously I didnt witness it, but my neighbour said it was quite visious and loud and scary. Luckily no one was hurt.

In the house he is never like this, at all. Obviously if the doorbell rings he gets up to see who it is and is on alert, but he will listen to us when we tell him to lie down. I would assume this is normal anyway? And he takes instruction from us in the house so he isnt alpha male like at home.

When he is out walking he doesnt bark at people or dogs, he is quite easy to get to pass by both without incident. It just seems to be certain men he hates and barks at. Its very strange and worrying;

oceanclub

This is my favourite forum topic title ever.

P.

**Vai**

oceanclub wrote: »

This is my favourite forum topic title ever.

P.

I know, its like something off the front page of Extreme Athiests Weekly

Zapperzy

oceanclub wrote: »

This is my favourite forum topic title ever.

P.

I agree! I thought God was the name of the dog and had images of you shouting 'god, god, come here god!' while heads turn.

dollydishmop

Quite possibly the ultimate freudian slip

Guill

God has been known to be very tempermental and with all the aethiests around at the minute who can blame him, he probably needs more excercise and social outtings. Teach him that other religions dogs/people are not going to interfere with you, your family, his terratory and your beliefs.

sionnaic

Well I'm not here to discuss God but here's my 2c on the dog situation.

First of all - please don't get "rid of the dog" - these issues are fixable!

I have a fairly similar problem so I'm not being preachy - we have a rescue dog for the last 6 months or so and he was also very nervous of men, even my partner when we first got him. And he especially doesn't like older men like my dad and my partner's dad. Though he's always been fine with women. As he got older, he progressed into territorial / watchdog barking (postmen, delivery men - dogs, cats, children, people outside on the street), he barked aggressively at other dogs, bicycles, joggers or the occassional random man while out on his walk. He pulls like mad on the leash too.

Anyway - things developed slowly over time so while we talked about needing some help, it was only when things came to a head that we actually went out and did it. I can't recommend our trainer enough - She came to our house for a Saturday afternoon to talk to us and meet and observe our dog, and she was very nice and gave great easy to follow advice which she readily demonstrated so we got it!
http://www.citizencanineireland.com/biog.asp

Now it is a lot of work implementing everything she said - and the whole family has to be prepared to put the effort in or there's no point - but we have seen a massive difference already and it hasn't even been two weeks yet. Really the improvement is unbelievable.

Incidentally a different trainer I talked to said that neutering a male dog who was always a nervous dog was the worst thing we could have done which I hadn't heard before - don't know if it's true or not but indeed his problems did escalate after he was neutered.

The last thing I'd say is that you shouldn't let your dog wander at all - even when you are there. He be in a secure garden or be on a lead outside until you are sure you can trust him. And even if you could trust him, no dog should ever ever be allowed outside of your own garden unsupervised. You're just asking for trouble. Wandering, off-lead dogs can get into all sorts of trouble ranging from being stolen, to getting run over, to attacking/annoying other people, other dogs or god forbid a child.

faceman

It sounds like your dog has grown in confidence thanks to the love and care you have shown him and his terroritorial instincts are surfacing, particularly now that there is competition on the block from other dogs.

Its not clear from email, was your dog in the garden at the time or freely roaming? Without sounding high-horsey, you can get into trouble for that should the dog cause harm or damage to someone. There is nothing wrong with keeping your dog in the garden while you are at, as long as its safe for him and others but try keep in the back garden if you have one.

You can train him to be less aggresive if you have the experience or use a (controversial) bark collar.

It might be worth bringing him to doggie socialising classes. Many trainers run them and its alot of fun.

sionnaic

oh please, whatever you do, please do not use an anti-bark collar. They're awful and they just make the problem worse in the long run - you're just repressing the issue instead of dealing with it. Using negative conditioning may work but it's likely to have negative repercussions.
You need to deal with problems using positive reinforcement techniques to recondition their reactions - punishing them when they're already scared / angry just makes them more scared or angry which could send them over the edge into biting. You need to use treats and praise to get them to associate the "scary thing" with things they love so that it stops being the "scary thing that I must frighten away" and starts being "the thing that results in me getting good things if I behave when I see them" and eventually to just being "the good thing".

yungwan

sionnaic wrote: »

First of all - please don't get "rid of the dog" - these issues are fixable!

http://www.citizencanineireland.com/biog.asp

Now it is a lot of work implementing everything she said - and the whole family has to be prepared to put the effort in or there's no point - but we have seen a massive difference already and it hasn't even been two weeks yet. Really the improvement is unbelievable.


The last thing I'd say is that you shouldn't let your dog wander at all - even when you are there. He be in a secure garden or be on a lead outside until you are sure you can trust him. And even if you could trust him, no dog should ever ever be allowed outside of your own garden unsupervised. You're just asking for trouble. Wandering, off-lead dogs can get into all sorts of trouble ranging from being stolen, to getting run over, to attacking/annoying other people, other dogs or god forbid a child.

Thats very much for the information and for not being preachy!

Yes we have decided it is something we all have to work on together to try and train him not to bark at people unneccessarily and to trust us when we say to stop that its ok and to stop.

Thanks for the link, she looks very good, and I might contact her. However we arent based in that area of the country so I dont know if she will call to us.

I hope we can keep him in the garden from now on, the poor guy loves going for a sniff around the estate without his lead.. but we have to stop him now. I hope it all works out for us anyway, he is like my 2nd child at this stage!

Thanks everyone for your input (in particular the non religious ones!)

robindch

yungwan wrote: »

God becoming very territorial, and barking agressively

Have some protestants/catholics/muslims/jews/hindus/atheists(*) moved in next door?

If so, why not ask God to smite them?

(*) delete as appropriate.

seamus

OK OK OK, great thread title or not, please no more off-topicness. I've amended the thread title.