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Author
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Topic: Would proffesional training help?
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Elite
Member
Member # 774
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posted April 15, 2004 11:48 AM
My 7 year old lab/pitt bull female, Daisy, has been dog and human aggressive the entire time we've had her. We got her when she was 2, and before that she had been abused and neglected by both of her owners before us. Well...I guess she isn't horribly dog agressive, just very dog "jealous". I think this is because her second owners who neglected her (they only bought her to get her out of the abusive situation, but never liked her), had another dog who they actually liked, and that dog got all the love and attention and she got none. She's apparently perfectly fine at the kennel with other dogs, but when we're around, she gets nippy. With humans, it's pretty much the same way. Aggressive when we're around, fine when we're not.
Daisy is relitively well trained, I guess. She will do "sit", "down", and "up" on one command, and will do them with silent hand commands, and spoken commands. When in the house, she will come to any name called, but outside she won't come at all. She's horrible on the leash, pulls really hard (and is extremely strong). We think she may have ruined her throat with pulling so hard (she breathes extremely loud nowadays), so I'll be getting her a body harness soon (just noticed the problem, but I guess it's been developing over the years). That should be healthier for her, at least. She also jumps (my fault, I trained that into her as a good thing), but she does it on anyone., anywhere, and that really scares some people. When I used to take her on walks around the lake, kids would run up to her because they just don't suppose dogs could be mean, and I'd yell at them to not approach my dog, and they'd do it anyways and get growled at or nipped at (no matter how much I pulled her in to me, they'd keep approaching). I was considering getting her a muzzle just so she starts LOOKING as mean as she is. Oh, and she's perfectly fine with cats and rodents, even if the cats don't like her. She still does have jealousy issues with the cats, and steals their toys.
Do you think some of this could be fixed with private training (can't have public, since she's aggressive)? I certainly don't expect to fix things like her claustrophobia, but can the other things be worked on? Do you think my dog could ever be okay with other dogs and humans? Is she just too old?
Also, I was kind of considering getting another dog (Daisy doesn't live with my puppy). It'd be a male, and would live outside during the day, like her.
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~*Elite*~
"You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, 'My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!'"
--Dave Barry
Posts: 164 | From: Colorado | Registered: Mar 2004
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DaxAriel's toy
Member
Member # 740
Member Rated:
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posted April 15, 2004 12:28 PM
You dog is well past middle age. Having a behaviourist look at her now is probably the best thing.
If you having loved her for 5 years hasn't made a difference I don't know that private training will but might give you more control.
Posts: 748 | From: Edmonton AB Canada | Registered: Mar 2004
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ellierat
Member
Member # 612
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posted April 22, 2004 05:00 PM
You seem to have waited a long time to correct the behaviour, has she always been like this or has it just started?
Some medical conditions can cause changes in behaviour.
Heat cycles can cause changes if not spayed.
A companion might be good, but I would try and work on her a little first, you don't want to have problems twice as bad as you already have, especially if she is unfriendly to other dogs, just because a new one may belong to you, she won't see it that way.
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I love my labs.
Posts: 880 | From: australia | Registered: Feb 2004
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beagle_brat12
Junior Member
Member # 448
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posted April 23, 2004 06:15 PM
My dog acts the same way, around dogs at least but she never stops even if I`m not with her. I finally got her to get along with my sister`s german shepard,.(that was hard!)
Posts: 7 | From: USA | Registered: Dec 2003
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