Need to give up dog due to temper

Heighway61 · 18-07-2023 4:41pm #1

Have had a 2 year old bichon frise from a few weeks old. He's generally a lovely friendly dog 90% of the time but completely loses the head sometimes. This happens whenever somebody calls to the house and most problematically with my 17 year old son. They have a good relationship. They play together, he looks for pets and lies on the couch with him. Then, out of the blue when the son walks into the room the dog goes into attack mode (but has never bitten). It happens pretty much daily. This has also happened a few times when they have already been in the room together for a time. I don't believe the son is antagonising him.

The dog also frequently jumps up and barks when he hears a sound outside or from inside the house that he thinks is coming from outside eg a thud or clink from the kitchen or a sound from the TV.

The son gets upset when this happens and has been pleading with us to get rid of the dog. He is scared of him.

Any advice on what we could do? Is it possible to re-home him (with this behaviour)?

Faith · 18-07-2023 4:45pm

Have you consulted with an animal behaviourist around a behaviour modication plan for both the dog and the humans in the home?

JustAsking2022 · 18-07-2023 4:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120867460#Comment_120867460

I would second this. I had a terrier who displayed the exact same behaviors many many years ago. We were able to resolve the issues with the advice of a behaviorist. It would be very unfair to pass this problem onto someone else unless they are super experienced dog folk.

zedhead · 19-07-2023 8:45am

Sounds very like my dog. He is great friends with my husband, plays with him all the time, goes to him for rubs and cuddles almost more than he goes to me. But regularly will just decide to growl and/or snap if my husband tries to pet him. He is also incredibly noise sensitive and loses the plot with cars driving past, people on the road etc. God forbid someone actually knocks at the door.

We recently got a behaviourist in who was able to spot that he was in pain, there was something off with his gait that should get investigation and it turns out he needs surgery on both his legs. We had the vet check him for pain in the past but the behaviourist said its hard for a vet to see since Milo hates being touched by strangers and would probably be so nervous/anxious in the vet he would mask any pain. Surgery wont magically fix the issues, but it will give us a good basis to start a plan to try and resolve it.

So i would 100% recommend getting the advice of a behaviourist. They have so much experience and knowledge and if you have had the dog for 2 years now its definitely worth trying something before going to the extreme of rehoming.

Heighway61 · 19-07-2023 1:57pm

We definitely would rather keep the dog. Looked at the one local behaviourist which seems expensive at €400 plus vet fees. This is for one zoom consultation. I thought they might come to the house and see the dog but maybe that's not how it's done.

He does have a paw issue which the vet cannot fix but I don't think that is the root cause.

DBB · 19-07-2023 8:22pm

You will find excellent, qualified behaviourists for far, far less money, and who come to your house for far less money.

What part of the country are you in?

Heighway61 · 20-07-2023 5:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120872303#Comment_120872303

Exact price quoted was €389 for the zoom consultation plus they require vet examination, treatment if necessary and report.

I'm in the north west. Glad to hear that behaviourists do come out. Will get back on Google.

tk123 · 20-07-2023 6:05pm

Zoom! I use Zoom etc for meetings and troubleshooting stuff in work - I wouldn’t use it to troubleshoot a dog though(!)

I’d take a look on apdt.ie and see if there’s anyone covering your area.

suvigirl · 20-07-2023 6:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120876469#Comment_120876469

My mam got one from Sligo, and he met her in Carrick, where he could see the dog out and about, which is where the issues were. He had worked previously with shelters in Dublin. He was really good and very honest with her and charged less then 200 euro if I remember correctly.

She found him on the apdt website

muddypaws · 20-07-2023 8:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120876565#Comment_120876565

I imagine that would be Cillian and yes, he's excellent. Five Star Dog Training based in Sligo

Heighway61 · 20-07-2023 9:12pm

Nobody listed on the apdt site for my area. Five Star say south donegal on their website, I'm further north.

DBB · 20-07-2023 9:26pm

Try him Heighway61, he's great, and he is properly and independently certified. Lovely fella too. He may go see you if you ask him nicely 😁

Need to give up dog due to temper

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