Dogs change in behaviour / Behaviourist Needed

captainmitchal

Hi guys, been reading the posts here and have had a similar problem recently with my 4 year old bichon frise, He is well trained in that he can do tricks but we may be struggling with a few areas around behaviour.
It all started when he got a bad bite from a larger dog when he was staying with a dog carer. since then when a larger dog comes over to him he gets very tense and will bark aggressively at the dog, he doesn't bite and in general he is not an aggressive dog, the problem is getting worse and the other day a young child was saying hello to him in our house and out of the blue had a similar reaction barking and moving towards the child, again he didn't bite but the child got a scare:(. he would never show this aggresion to me or my wife, which makes me think it he is either being protective of us or trying to show his dominece over other people/dogs.
does anyone have any tips on how to improve his behaviour or what we need to do to show he can't behave like this, is it a case of having treats in my hand when we are around larger dogs and praise while larger dog says hello to him and likewise with children? and what should i do if he has that reaction? i don't hit the dog like people have said on here it doesn't help i raise my voice and say NO, but i don't know where to go from here? would you advise me to go on obedience training?
sorry i know this is me asking for advise on someones thread but figured it was a similar problem.
thanks.

The Sweeper

captainmitchal wrote: »

barking and moving towards the child, again he didn't bite but the child got a scare:(.

Without seeing what happened, nobody can say precisely, but it's maybe one of a number of things, including aggression or just warning the child out of his space.

captainmitchal wrote: »

does anyone have any tips on how to improve his behaviour or what we need to do to show he can't behave like this,

Get a qualified behaviourist (ask on this forum for recommendations in your area) in, and explain both the situation with the larger dog, and your dog's reaction to the child.

There is a huge amount of information contained in canine body language - lip licking, turning their head away, retreating, stripping their teeth, rolling eyes, stiffened limbs, position of ears and tail, bodily tension - and as an owner you may miss every bit of that body language.

A rush and barking, while it may look to you like 'I hate you and I want to hurt you' may actually be the dog saying 'I'm afraid of you, stay away from me!' A behaviourist can help you identify what's really going on, and give you some tips on how to soothe and reassure your dog so it goes back to being a friendly, happy, non-reactive pet.

star-pants

I've made your own thread, as whilst I agree the issues are similar, it's very easy for posters to miss your post / respond to the previous threads specific issues. Just so that you can get the best advice.

captainmitchal

Hi, we're living in south Dublin and wondering if anyone knows of a good dog behaviourist or trainer that we can see about our 4 year old bichon, which has recently showen aggression to larger dogs and children, ie barking not biting.

Toulouse

http://apdt.ie/index.php/find-a-trainer/dublin/

Can highly recommend Maureen, Tara, Lisa Whelan or Emmaline from this list for behavioural consults.

TooManyDogs

www.dublinpetschool.com

Can recommend Siobhan, she's fantastic

marley123

Hi There is a new place http://www.facebook.com/PositiveDogTrainingDublin opening in Sandyford soon, I have had dealings with one of the girls involved in it & couldnt recommend her highly enough!

Lpfsox

Julie Holmes from www.tagnrye.com. Can't recommend this lady highly enough.

belongtojazz

TooManyDogs wrote: »

www.dublinpetschool.com

Can recommend Siobhan, she's fantastic

I second this. I had Siobhan in to help with serious aggression issues with my jack and found her to be utterly brilliant. I have my happy, friendly, slightly bonkers girl back

Jennypops

Lisa Whelan from Dog Training Ireland is fantastic...helped me loads with my dog and gave a very thorough and complete report and training plan to deal with his issue, brilliant follow up and after support.

Couldnt really recommend these guys more.

jets799

Had problem paws out. Great girl and came to my home. Always on the phone if I had any questions and even came back free of charge when I was finding the lead walking hard . www.problempaws.ie