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Obese Janissary posted:I have an almost six month old white German Shepard. She's not spayed yet, but am planning on it soon. 8 weeks isn't the end of the world. What did you do to socialize the puppy between 2-4 months?
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Jan 26, 2015 00:02
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Ikantski posted:8 weeks isn't the end of the world. What did you do to socialize the puppy between 2-4 months? Girlfriends mother and brother were introduced, she's OK with them too (loves them actually). Uncle she can't stand, and he's been over a bunch of times. He doesn't come at her or anything, she doesn't like him for reason. He's not blood related so we wonder about that. I've been having some house work done and have had various plumbers/repairmen over, and she's always terrified of them. He has a little chihuahua we had over a bunch too (pet sitting) she was scared the first time, but got over it by the third. We started walking her fairly young, and she was terrified the first few times, but around the 5th time she started loving it, but got super skittish if we passed anyone. I've had her groomed first time two weeks ago, and she survived that. The groomer was very patient with her. Last week we went on 3 day trip and had a friend stay over to house/pet sit. She said that on the last day our puppy would finally lay near her, but still was wary.
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Jan 26, 2015 04:07
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Obese Janissary posted:Girlfriends mother and brother were introduced, she's OK with them too (loves them actually). Uncle she can't stand, and he's been over a bunch of times. He doesn't come at her or anything, she doesn't like him for reason. He's not blood related so we wonder about that. I've been having some house work done and have had various plumbers/repairmen over, and she's always terrified of them. So she's super under-socialized. See if you can get in a local puppy class, since she may still come in under the cut-off and it'll be a more controlled environment. A good class will have a mix of socialization work and training. If she's too old to get in a puppy class, find a local class that specializes in shy dogs. For your next pup, Ian Dunbar's rule of thumb is to introduce the dog to at least 100 different people (including 20 children) before they hit 12 weeks of age, with as much variability as you can (people of different size, with different facial hair, some with weird hats, different races, etc.). Introduction to other puppies of different sizes and breeds is good to have through puppy class, and introduction to adult dogs should be made on a case-by-case basis, setting her up for success as much as possible.
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Jan 26, 2015 06:06
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pizzadog posted:Again this will not work for all dogs, esp strong dogs that really want to greet other dogs or chase prey. Leash reactivity is a different problem than loose leash walking, and should be addressed before you get to loose leash walking (or at least in different sessions).
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Jan 26, 2015 06:08
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Where did you get her from? My guess is that there's a genetic component to her extreme shyness. That she's super under socialized certainly does not help. Here's an article about socializing and what to do/not do: http://www.clickertraining.com/dont-socialize-the-dog The dog park was hugely overwhelming to her and the exposure did not likely help her overcome an iota of her shyness. You need to begin exposing her to new things now, and regularly, but you also need to ensure that she's successful. Have you done any training with her? Clicker/marker training is great for instilling confidence in dogs. It's fun for them, and they realize that their behaviour causes predictable, enjoyable outcomes (ie, getting that treat). For shy, under socialized dogs, being able to feel like they have some effect on the world around them is huge. Start with basic focus work and tricks, tricks, tricks and more tricks.
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Jan 26, 2015 14:16
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Yikes, I had no idea that much socialization was required. I should have realized when she was so scared right from the start of everything though. Previous dogs I grew up with didn't have any issues, I presumed this would be the same. I was actually wanting to take her to a training class for more tips, I'll search around for a smaller group or one on one, as the ones I've located so far seem too large. Training: just treats and commands. She stays, sits, and comes well enough. I'm trying to get her not to jump on anyone when she's excited, with good progress so far. Oh, she understands "go to bed" means to lay in her crate. She got that one really fast. Didn't really plan on much else, but if more tricks well help I'll try that as well. Thanks for the advice, I'll get her into a class asap.
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Jan 26, 2015 14:30
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Just be cautious when enrolling for class. Some shy dogs find them overwhelming. Look for a class that's relatively small and quiet, and keep in mind the points in the socialization article I posted above. Talk to the instructor prior, and even drop in to audit a class before signing up. You want to see a fun, happy, upbeat class that focuses on reinforcement. You don't want to see unhappy dogs on tight leashes. You may even want to look into some one on one training, so your dog learns the basics before class starts so you can focus more on confidence building than teaching specifics.
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Jan 26, 2015 17:36
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Spoke with the girlfriend and we've decided that while a bit more expensive, a one on one trainer is going to be best. She's scared of people too, so we think one person for her to be nervous around is enough. I'll try to find one that has more experience with shy dogs. Thanks goons.
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Jan 27, 2015 00:38
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Counter conditioning question: My girlfriend and I have two dogs, and we're now taking care of another, slightly smaller dog. He arrived since some of her relations needed to find a new place for him as a result of some civil litigation on barking or something weird. This dog is a bit of a scrappy son of a gun, and as it turns out is has some issues with food guarding toward the other dogs. He'll growl or snap at the others if they approach his food, and this has even led to him and another dog getting into a spat. At the least, if other dogs are near his food he'll tense up or look away. I've tackled this thus far by feeding all the dogs kibble or treats in a group, about 3-4 feet away from each other. This is just the easiest way for me to counter condition him, as they'll all crowd around me if they know it's time for training and treats. I notice he seems less tense, but will still look away from the other dogs if I don't capture different body language. I've been working on this for about two days. My question is if the dog's still somewhat tense, am I moving too fast? Does it matter if he's tense around the dogs but still associating that proximity with good things? I was wondering if this might be somehow detrimental. Should I instead focus on feeding him when he's calm and the dogs are around but further away, and slowly move the sessions closer? Psycho Society fucked around with this message at 08:27 on Jan 28, 2015 |
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Jan 28, 2015 08:23
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Psycho Society posted:Counter conditioning question: It sounds like he's as good as he can be already - you're never going to counter-condition him into being OK with another dog coming up to his food and a warning growl/snap seems like an appropriate reaction to another dog coming into his space while eating - I would put more fault on the dog that came up to his food and decided to return fire rather than back down. The look away is a better response than a fixed stare, so I think you're better served putting your efforts into proofing leave it with each of the dogs and managing the situation so they don't have food out around each other. Multiple dogs sitting for treats is a good exercise to do, but I wouldn't be overly concerned with him trying to yield space.
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Jan 28, 2015 08:49
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Psycho Society posted:Counter conditioning question: Kudos for thinking these things through. I would feed the dogs separately and with set meal times until you address this. It will take a good amount of time to successfully change his reaction to the dogs, so don't take anything for granted for a while. Conditioning dogs takes a while, and there may be setbacks along the way. I'm a bit more optimistic than Engineer Lenk. I bet there's still room for improvement. But addressing resource guarding dog v dog is more difficult than doing the same when it's dog v human, and you may never completely annihilate the behaviour. My big dog was a dog/dog resource guarder when younger, and it was a huge concern when I introduced my little dog to my house (6-7x body weight, one misplaced snap could cause serious damage). I was really anal about first introducing them (kept up gates etc for the first month, fed meals separately, did loads of classical conditioning stuff with them), and now they're really, really good with each other. I can legitimately say that I have next to no concerns when it comes to them and food, and only separate them for ultra special long lasting treats if I'm not supervising, because it's just the smart thing to do. It's taken a while, and I'm a dog training nerd, but I say it to illustrate that significant improvements can happen in some situations. It sounds like you're on the right track. I think you rushed the dog/dog introductions and it may have poisoned the well a bit. I like that you're feeding the dogs together from your hand as a sort of exercise. I like that you're aware of the smaller dog's body language. I think you're probably working too close to his threshold and that you should increase distance between him and your resident dogs while doing this exercise. Or put him on one side of a gate and them on another, or some sort of physical barrier that will allow the new dog to relax more during the exercise. As you surmised, if you're working too close to the smaller dog's threshold you may be inadvertently making his stress worse by essentially forcing him to endure a lot of negative feelings because his desire for food is so high. So, add distance, barrier, etc to minimize the negative while keeping the positive strong. You can also work on some self control exercises with all the dogs so they're not going to be doofuses and waltz into the smaller dog's space while diving for a treat. Feed from your hands only. Work on them leaving food that has fallen on the floor by rewarding them tenfold from your hands while covering any food on the floor if they go for it.
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Jan 28, 2015 14:06
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That's some wonderfully instructive advice. Thanks guys. I've started training/treating him further away from the other dogs, keeping them present but only where he doesn't tense up. It's too early to tell but, but I'd say it seems to be having an effect, I haven't heard him growl at the other dogs over food lately, and he seems to be warming up to other pooches. Time will tell. I've definitely been working on it "leave-it" too. I should step up the frequency of training sessions, but we're getting there. Teaching Ozzie (the possessive dog) leave it is pretty funny. He just tries to lick and lick my closed hand or put his head on it with all his weight. He is learning though, and I think I might be taking a liking to the strange little mongrel spaniel. I think he's getting past the funk moving here with strangers put him in.
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Feb 1, 2015 10:47
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I got a new dog and I am running into a bit of a problem that I don't really know how to solve. To sum things up quickly, she is a 1 year old German Shepard, she has really bad separation anxiety and/or attachment problems. Follows me everywhere, and whines, barks, claws at doors, etc when she cannot. When I am around she incredibly obedient, listens to commands well, even under stress; for example I can easily make her sit and stay calm while another dog is tugging at his lead and barking at her. I've been doing a lot of reading and research about to solve this, and it all mentions using positive reinforcement as an incentive to encourage her to be okay when away from me, but there is the specific issue I am having. I cannot find anything this dog enjoys other than my company, she will not even eat her food unless I stand next to her. She loves getting treats from me, but if I leave some for her when I leave they will go un eaten. If I throw them away from me, she will not leave my side to go after them. She also has absolutely 0 interest in any toys I have offered her, whether I am around or not. She is crate trained, prefers to sleep in her crate, will go into it when asked, and doesn't mind being locked in there until I leave the room. Everything I read mentions putting her in there with her favorite toys and treats and rewarding her for being away from me. How do I do that when she has no favorite toys or treats and her only reward is my attention?
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Feb 5, 2015 06:05
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Does anyone have any input on the Karen Pryor Academy? My city is hosting workshops for the Dog Trainer Professional Program this summer/fall, and while it looks to be mostly geared for people with professional experience the site also says I might be well enough prepared if "I have some education in positive-reinforcement based training through books, video, seminars, workshops, or conferences" and "I have done some clicker training with my own dog and other dogs." One complication is that I would need two professional references, but all I have to show for my studies is a clicker-trained corgi. 
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Feb 5, 2015 19:01
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KPA is well regarded. If you can pull off attending, I don't see why not. The only issue might be that they'll be talking at a pretty technical level that you may not follow it all, as you've sort of surmised. In the interim, you could do some reading on the Karen Pryor site to get a feel for the language and the types of subjects which might be discussed. http://www.clickertraining.com/ Not sure where you'd get your professional references from though. Sorry.
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Feb 5, 2015 21:51
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Thing seemed to be have been going well, but we had an incident last night. My girlfriend was cutting chicken for dinner and Ozzie was at her feet, presumably in wait for a wayward scrap to fall. Jacky (black dog, fought with Ozzie weeks ago) was nearby as well. There was a growl from Ozzie, and before either of us knew what was happening both dogs were at each other in a snarling brawl. This lasted a handful of seconds before Jacky had Ozzie under her and I pulled her off. In a minute more both dogs had cooled off and went to their crates. No one seemed to be injured, thankfully. I wasn't paying much attention to the dogs immediately before the fight, and the first thing I saw when looking down was them fighting, so I'm not sure how it was caused. My best guesses are that either Ozzie was just possessive and anxious of opportunities for the food and it escalated from there, or that an actual scrap fell and Ozzie was very not okay with Jacky going for it as well. Either way it seems like I need to focus on Ozzie with food manners. Enough leave-it/it's yer choice games that he a) Doesn't beg for food in the kitchen, and b) Doesn't eat any food off the ground, even it's something as high value as chicken I'm going to start crating Ozzie when food prep. is going on. He'll be in his crate if no one else is around, either. I definitely don't want to come back to one of them injured.
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Feb 8, 2015 00:31
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FWIW and I don't know their histories but a lot of dogs "fighting" is just noise.
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Feb 8, 2015 19:26
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Psycho Society posted:Either way it seems like I need to focus on Ozzie with food manners. Enough leave-it/it's yer choice games that he Is this dog going to be with y'all long-term? I feel like this level of self-control will be the culmination of a year+ dedicated training effort, and every time he slips and self-reinforces from the floor you have to step back and rebuild. I like to teach the dogs to get out of a room; they put themselves into a down-stay on the threshold of the boundary I've defined. I'll use this if I want to train with just one dog in the room or to kick everyone out of the kitchen while I'm cooking.
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Feb 9, 2015 04:35
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Anyone have any advice? Things are getting worse with her separation anxiety. She has broken 2 crates and chewed holes in the carpet. She was never destructive before.
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Feb 12, 2015 00:58
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Wadjamaloo posted:I got a new dog and I am running into a bit of a problem that I don't really know how to solve. To sum things up quickly, she is a 1 year old German Shepard, she has really bad separation anxiety and/or attachment problems. Follows me everywhere, and whines, barks, claws at doors, etc when she cannot. How long have you had her? How much exercise is she getting? Lots of rescue dogs will think the world revolves around you for a while at least. You have to show her how to relax while you're in the same room but not engaging with her, while you're in a different room, out of the house, etc. Seperation anxiety is a bitch to deal with.
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Feb 12, 2015 10:49
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I've had her about 3 weeks now. She was getting good exercise at first, I was taking her on bike rides and really tiring her out. That didn't seem to make a huge difference though. Her anxiety was so bad that I was not able to keep her at my home any longer, I know thats not good for her, but it was that or get kicked out. Shes now staying at my Moms house and everyday after work I go there to walk her and take care of her. Its becoming a huge burden on me, to the point that I am only getting 5 hours of sleep a night and eating nothing but fast food. The family I got her from was not very open about the extent of her problems. At first they said they wanted to get rid of her because their child was scared of her, then they mentioned they weren't able to walk her every day, and on days she didn't get walks she had issues but was otherwise great. I can really only think of 3 options at the moment which are all bad for the dog. Find her a new home where she can run into the same problems with someone else. Continue doing what we are doing. Or drug her up with some meds, which I really don't want to do. I wanted to try and find her a new home when I realized the extent of her problems, but my mom coerced me into letting her take her and trying to work with her. She said she would start working from home and only going to the office for half the day, but that fell through and now she is working overtime constantly.
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Feb 13, 2015 04:08
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Wadjamaloo posted:I can really only think of 3 options at the moment which are all bad for the dog. The right drugs aren't bad for the dog. If the dog was in physical pain, you'd give it pain meds, right? If the dog is having crippling anxiety, then anxiety meds would probably be very helpful.
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Feb 13, 2015 05:55
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Is there any rescues (particularly GSD specific) in your area? Might be worth talking to them - they may be able to help/advise, or else will be able to find her a new home with someone equipped to deal with her. Them's the breaks with private rehomes unfortunately, you never know if what the other person is saying is true.
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Feb 13, 2015 09:39
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Fraction posted:Is there any rescues (particularly GSD specific) in your area? Might be worth talking to them - they may be able to help/advise, or else will be able to find her a new home with someone equipped to deal with her. Agreed. What I have learned is that if you are not equipped to handle a dog that has special needs then do not hesitate to find someone who is.
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Feb 14, 2015 09:09
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I've been taking my dog to a dog day care this winter to help get her more exercise in the cold months. I've only had her since April and since my schedule has changed and it's gotten super cold I was worried about getting her enough exercise. She had been going fine for 3 months until this last week. During her last stay there her and another dog got into a fight and she bit one of the day care workers as she tried to break up the fight. Obviously I'm very concerned about this. Prior to this apparently she had gotten into two other smaller fights at the daycare, which I wasn't told about until now. Had I known she had gotten in a fight I wouldn't have continued to take her there. The owner/manager told me that she doesn't believe my dog is aggressive and that non of the staff are afraid of her. She's also welcome back just not in a group setting. She didn't attack the worker she just happened to get bite while trying to separate the two dogs. I'm worried about her interacting with other dogs and people in the future. I don't want to have to keep her isolated from others and the outside life. She has never acted aggressively towards other humans since I've had her. And while she plays rough she hasn't ever attacked a dog at the dog park either. The daycare owner has also stated that she is fine outside and think's she might have gotten territorial and lashed out. The owner gave me the number of a trainer who specializes in bully breeds and I will be giving them a call this week to schedule some sessions. Anything I should bring up with the trainer? Should I stop taking her to the dog park? I'm worried that something has changed in her behavior and that I will have to stop taking her around others. Or that she attacks another dog again or a person and that I would have to put her down. Is this something that can be trained out of her?
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Feb 15, 2015 23:29
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BaseballPCHiker posted:I've been taking my dog to a dog day care this winter to help get her more exercise in the cold months. I've only had her since April and since my schedule has changed and it's gotten super cold I was worried about getting her enough exercise. She had been going fine for 3 months until this last week. During her last stay there her and another dog got into a fight and she bit one of the day care workers as she tried to break up the fight. Obviously I'm very concerned about this. Prior to this apparently she had gotten into two other smaller fights at the daycare, which I wasn't told about until now. Had I known she had gotten in a fight I wouldn't have continued to take her there. I had somewhat similar situation: The daycare people told me that Hana had in a couple of situations turned around and bit (not hard) 2 of the workers. They described how they had handled her and I tested her at home, and rightly so, she turned around with her mouth open until she saw who it was. We then 'ambushed' her repeatedly and in general started handling her more and she got used to it and now doesn't react at all, if we grab her hips and pull her back. The dog-to-dog stuff I can't really help with. Hana was a bit of a bully in the dog park, but going to daycare actually helped her dog--to-dog manners.
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Feb 16, 2015 00:43
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So my puppy is starting to show some pretty bad behavior. Things like crying for attention, scratching at my chair (even now as I'm typing this, not giving her attention), getting upset when I'm showing affection with my girlfriend, when either of us are giving attention to the cat, and stepping out into the other room. She's showing some other things that seem odd as well, but we're not sure if they're an issue (things like redirecting bites when chewing to our clothing, chewing on her feet, chasing her tail occasionally, etc). She's 3 months old and we're wondering if she was potentially taken away too early from her mother. We adopted her 2 weeks ago, and we figure the adoption process could mean she was in there since she was at least a month old. Mostly we're curious how we can train her away from these behaviors. She's otherwise a great dog. She's friendly with strangers and other dogs, she's starting to get better at being house and crate trained (though she does still cry at night sometimes), and she's good on walks when it's not freezing outside.
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Feb 20, 2015 03:22
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My folks have a greyhound they don't really do anything with, so he mostly just lies around all day and chews on things. When I'm over visiting I usually wind up being the one to walk and feed him, so to give him something to do I've been teaching him the basics (sit, stay, go to your crate, very basic heeling... still working on that one). I'm looking to branch out a little more, with the proviso that this is a suburban dog and my folks won't go out of their way to do much with it, and have been thinking it'd be fun to teach it to do more practical 'jobs' for that kind of setting, like how farm dogs get. Like, how to teach a dog to get the mail, load and run the washing machine, open the back door and let itself out when it needs to pee. Ultimately I'd like to teach him to drive a car, just in like a nearby parking lot and with aids to make up for lack of thumbs etc. of course, do any of you have pointers on how I'd approach that? He seems pretty quick to learn when there's liver around but there's kind of a big jump between an instant thing like sitting and the multi-step process to safely operate a machine.
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Feb 20, 2015 06:49
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A Wizard of Goatse posted:My folks have a greyhound they don't really do anything with, so he mostly just lies around all day and chews on things. When I'm over visiting I usually wind up being the one to walk and feed him, so to give him something to do I've been teaching him the basics (sit, stay, go to your crate, very basic heeling... still working on that one). I'm looking to branch out a little more, with the proviso that this is a suburban dog and my folks won't go out of their way to do much with it, and have been thinking it'd be fun to teach it to do more practical 'jobs' for that kind of setting, like how farm dogs get. Like, how to teach a dog to get the mail, load and run the washing machine, open the back door and let itself out when it needs to pee. Ultimately I'd like to teach him to drive a car, just in like a nearby parking lot and with aids to make up for lack of thumbs etc. of course, do any of you have pointers on how I'd approach that? He seems pretty quick to learn when there's liver around but there's kind of a big jump between an instant thing like sitting and the multi-step process to safely operate a machine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWAK0J8Uhzk everything you need to know
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Feb 20, 2015 07:06
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My daughter just turned 1, and has hit that stage where it's super fun to throw food on the ground when she's in her high chair. Obviously, my dog, Mona, thinks this is super awesome. For a while, I was just picking up the dropped food right away, but having to get up every minute or so is annoying, so I've been trying to train Mona to stay on a near by bed while we're at the dinner table. I've been trying to correct her right as she's about to get up to try and giving her a treat as a reward if she doesn't get up, but it's hard to catch her before she gets up every time when I'm dealing with the baby at the same time. If she does get up, it's really hard to get her to listen, as she gets really focused on looking for the dropped food. Mona is super food motivated, which is compounding the problem. As a result, the training hasn't been too successful. I could use some advice on what to do in the situation. If it's just not feasible, I'll just have to distract her during meal times with a raw hide or something.
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Feb 21, 2015 04:00
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To be honest, teaching a dog to completely ignore thrown food at random, hard-to-predict times isn't going to be the easiest for a food-motivated dog. The best option will be to put her elsewhere while the kid's eating (i.e. baby gated out of the room), or give her something higher value like the rawhide or a stuffed kong or some other chew.
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Feb 21, 2015 14:45
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I have a question about training a dog. I have given my new dog chew toys to chew on. She's chewing these toys, a rawhide bone right now, with a gusto. What I want to learn is how do I take something away from her once she already has it? If she gets a hold of a shoe, the remote, or something else she isn't supposed to have, what is a good way to train/condition her not to tear my hand off if I reach in and try to take it? I'm thinking going straight for the object is a bad idea, so I should try and distract the dog first with a few seconds of petting, saying no, and slowly and deliberately reaching to take. Edit: This video was a gem. Going to subscribe and I know what I'll be training on tomorrow. lite_sleepr fucked around with this message at 03:57 on Feb 22, 2015 |
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Feb 22, 2015 03:20
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Fraction posted:To be honest, teaching a dog to completely ignore thrown food at random, hard-to-predict times isn't going to be the easiest for a food-motivated dog. The best option will be to put her elsewhere while the kid's eating (i.e. baby gated out of the room), or give her something higher value like the rawhide or a stuffed kong or some other chew. I was leaning that way already, so I guess that's what we'll do going forward. The rawhide has worked pretty well the last few days.
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Feb 22, 2015 03:59
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PRESIDENT GOKU posted:I have a question about training a dog. Sounds like you're on the right path. Always try to trade up with dogs, so when push comes to shove and they have something dangerous, they'll let you take it without fuss.
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Feb 22, 2015 04:02
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a life less posted:Sounds like you're on the right path. Always try to trade up with dogs, so when push comes to shove and they have something dangerous, they'll let you take it without fuss. I'm getting worried that the dog doesn't respect my wife  we've had her home for about 8 hours, and while she shows deference to me, she more or less is really pushing it with my wife. She does things like get on the couch when it's just my wife in the room, but she wouldn't think of that if I was around. I need my wife to also be an alpha, so im trying to involve her in the training. It's far too early to tell for sure, but this will take consistent, calm practice.
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Feb 22, 2015 05:11
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PRESIDENT GOKU posted:I'm getting worried that the dog doesn't respect my wife You have a small kid and a cat. Give the resource guarder with heartworms that's already a handful back to the shelter.
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Feb 22, 2015 06:37
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Engineer Lenk posted:You have a small kid and a cat. Give the resource guarder with heartworms that's already a handful back to the shelter. Shelter dog didn't come from the shelter with 100% perfect behavior and needs training. I'm ok with that and I'm using an online resource provided by this thread. She was receptive to the Kiko method of toy dropping and I'll work on it more today. Why would you say this? How is this helpful? It's been less than 24 hours it's too soon to tell if she's already a handful. The heart worms were dealt with by the shelter with heart worm shots, and we have her follow up antibiotics we give her now for the follow up treatment. lite_sleepr fucked around with this message at 11:40 on Feb 22, 2015 |
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Feb 22, 2015 11:38
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PRESIDENT GOKU posted:Shelter dog didn't come from the shelter with 100% perfect behavior and needs training. I'm ok with that and I'm using an online resource provided by this thread. She was receptive to the Kiko method of toy dropping and I'll work on it more today. Why would you say this? How is this helpful? It's been less than 24 hours it's too soon to tell if she's already a handful. I work with shelter dogs who exhibit resource guarding on their behavior assessments. It's a long uphill road to train the behavior away and it requires a lot of management to get them to practice making good choices. Even if we rehab it away to nothing in the shelter environment, resource guarding is an automatic non-negotiable adult-only home restriction. I've seen a number of resource guarders returned within a couple of weeks of adoption for bites (usually preventable ones), and I think you're minimizing the risk to your family. Her other issues just compound everything as heartworm aftercare usually comes with exercise restrictions. That can concentrate bad behaviors out of boredom and crankiness. Any description of 'being the alpha' is likely from a source that is at best hopelessly out of date. The techniques espoused by sources that use dominance theories can very quickly make a dog dangerously unpredictable.
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Feb 22, 2015 13:50
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Engineer Lenk posted:I work with shelter dogs who exhibit resource guarding on their behavior assessments. It's a long uphill road to train the behavior away and it requires a lot of management to get them to practice making good choices. Even if we rehab it away to nothing in the shelter environment, resource guarding is an automatic non-negotiable adult-only home restriction. I've seen a number of resource guarders returned within a couple of weeks of adoption for bites (usually preventable ones), and I think you're minimizing the risk to your family. Her other issues just compound everything as heartworm aftercare usually comes with exercise restrictions. That can concentrate bad behaviors out of boredom and crankiness. A person with shelter dog experience would be valuable to my training needs! I didn't get a shelter dog thinking breaking them of bad behavior and reprogramming them would be a cake walk. I'm using the Kikopup videos to learn about better methods so I at least have some idea of what, and how, to do it. I'm willing to put in the work and so is my wife. I'm getting the vibe from a lot of people here that shelter dogs are The Worst. I'm not sure what you mean when you say resource guarding is an 'automatic non-negotiable' restriction. Do you mean that when they change environments they default back to resource guarding? If so, I'm working on that starting with chews to train her to drop them. I hope theres no biting ever, but just because it has happened doesn't mean I won't be willing to at least try. The heartworm issue is really lovely, but all it means is we'll need to put in extra effort and have a lot more patience than normal, and I feel like I'm willing to do it. Baby steps, man, baby steps. And when I say 'alpha' I don't mean it in some tired and traditional way of asserting dominance over the dog through physical or psychological intimidation. When I say it I mean that the dogs knows me and my wife are in charge, and the dog needs to listen to us. I don't mean it in any other way. lite_sleepr fucked around with this message at 14:25 on Feb 22, 2015 |
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Feb 22, 2015 14:20
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PRESIDENT GOKU posted:I'm not sure what you mean when you say resource guarding is an 'automatic non-negotiable' restriction. Do you mean that when they change environments they default back to resource guarding? If so, I'm working on that starting with chews to train her to drop them. I hope theres no biting ever, but just because it has happened doesn't mean I won't be willing to at least try. It means that my shelter will not adopt a dog out who has exhibited resource guarding to a household with members under the age of 18. I've seen one dog come back from an 'adult-only' household for biting a kid. This was a situation where the adopters were fully briefed about the importance of management and the potential risks of having this dog around kids. They conveniently failed to mention during the adoption process that a family friend with kids was over all the time. Not all shelter dogs are bad, but not all shelter dogs are good family dogs. Your phrasing of how your dog reacts to trying to take something away really cements my impression that this isn't the right fit for your family - dogs that are around kids need to be stabler than dogs in an adult-only household.
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Feb 22, 2015 14:34
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