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Author
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Topic: Need help with sometimes aggressive dog
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sweetgarbage
Junior Member
Member # 305
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posted January 09, 2004 10:00 AM
I adopted a 4 year old dog about 3 months ago and I have no doubt that he was treated rather poorly until the adoption place took him in.
He isn't aggressive to any person (or other animal in fact at all) except at certain times. He will growl and snap at times when you try to put on his leash, bite and growl when you try to groom him or administer medicine. Right now, he has to have drops put in his ears because of an ear infection he has and it is not a fun time.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to calm him from this behavior and teach him not to bite and snap so much at those times? I know it will take some time and patience considering his past, but I want to make sure I am going about discipline correctly so that he won't get hurt anymore than he has in the past.
Thanks in advance!
Posts: 3 | Registered: Oct 2003
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lou3
Member
Member # 343
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posted January 10, 2004 07:27 AM
i used to know a dachshund that used to bite when you put his lead on - it was because he had been allowed to get away with it by his previous owners. He bit me one day and i picked him up by the scruff of his neck and gave him a good shake and he never bit me again. The message here - a good telling off works wonders.
for administering medicines and grooming its probably best to invest in a muzzle, that way your dog wont be able to bite and may eventually learn that he cant bite you and give up.
Lou
Posts: 461 | From: uk | Registered: Nov 2003
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NicoleLJ
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Member # 291
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posted January 10, 2004 07:35 AM
I call this bomb proofing a dog.
To be honest it can take a while and it depends on the dog and how it was handled. I prefer clicker training. Now for starters no more free feeding, these lessons are best done during meal time. Instead of treats the dog or pup is earning its meal.
The first place I always focus on is the head. For the main reason that a strange hand suddenly coming at a dogs head can be frightening esspecially if a dog has been abused. First perfect the sit. Once you know your pup can do the sit quite well then put the pup in a sit. Start off sitting in front of the pup. Then bring your hand down towards her head at a rapid pace within the dogs line of sight. Just as it looks to the dog like you are about to hit her stop your hand and rub your hand lightly down her head. If she moves, either jumping up or ducking or anything, don't say anything just put her back in a sit. You goal is to be able to rapidly bring your hand towards her without her reacting. Basicallly her just sitting there and letting you do it without care. If she doesn't move then click the clicker and give her a piece of treat. Once she realizes that if she moves she gets no treat but if she sits there and ignores then she gets a treat. She will soon be ignoring having her head handled and having fast moving hands coming at her. Once she does this well with you then get someone else to do this. The more people you can get doing this to her the better. This is one of my favorite tricks when I know I have a dog who has been hit alot. They soon learn the game and love the sight of hands coming at them.
For the rest of the body it is the same idea. Progress from her sitting to her standing and then also lieing down. Once she has perfected this then progress to giving her ears, tail and feet light and I mean light tugs and teaching her the same way to ignore.
What I do with pups or abused dogs I am fostering and reconditioning is the first 6 months I have them i feed them completely from my hand. So every meal time is a training session in ignoring and accepting people touching her. PLus it is bonding time. If any of this is confusing just let me know and I will be happy to clarify. Remember though even though your hand is coming
rapidly down don't ever slip and actually hit. Always do this when you know you will be in complete control of your body. So never when you are tired or when you are so stressed that you can't conentrate. The name of the game is for the dog to ignore and think no matter what happens it won't hurt and they get a reward for being calm and ignoring.
Once you know he is good with having his body handled you can progress to do the same with objects and so on. Let me know how this goes.
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Lets teach the public to spay and neuter pets and leave breeding up to the experts, to help decrease the thousands of animals destroyed monthly in shelters and pounds around the world.
Posts: 82 | From: Raymond. Alberta | Registered: Oct 2003
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